Volvo Fireball Worlds: Britons Edwards/Townend Triumph

Aussies, Thais share top places

by Peter Cummins, Pattaya

British sailors claimed six of the first eight places in the just-ended Volvo Fireball World Championship, sailed off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in South Pattaya, with the new champions DJ (Dave) Edwards and Vyv Townend undisputed masters of the Gulf. Five firsts and a second for their best six races out of the eight sailed is evidence enough of the superiority of this team.

Fighting for the lead on Pattaya Bay. Photo Peter Cummins

On the contrary, second-placed Ian Pinnell and Matthew Flint did not win a single race but maintained a consistent string of good placings. Australians Robin Inns and Jason Heritage were third.

Thailand’s top sailors, Damrongsak Vongtim and Niwat Triyot, sailed extremely well against the tough British and Aussie competition, to finish a most commendable fourth.

1998 Asian Games yachting Gold Medallist Damrongsak’s performance in this championship has been exemplary when placed in the context of the abilities of D.J. Edwards and Ian Pinnell who have been dominating dinghy sailing for several years, having racked up seven world championships between them. Ian has won the Fireballs in Val Andre, France 1987, and Durban, South Africa in 1994; the Enterprise Worlds in Hong Kong 1985, and Tynemouth, England 1991. He won “something” in 1993, he told this Pattaya Mail correspondent during an interview at the end of the regatta. “But I don’t recall what it was,” he pointed out over a well-earned glass of beer.

The winning Britons – DJ Edwards (L) and Vyv Townend. Photo Peter Cummins

It could be said of the event that “the British dominated, the Aussies speculated and the Thais capitulated”.

D.J. Edwards and Vyv Townend were also unbeatable in the pre-regatta event, winning, by a big margin, the Volvo Fireball International Week also sailed off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, the host of the event.

With three first and two third placings in the five races counted out of the six sailed, the visitors were unassailable at the top. Nevertheless, Thai Navy sailors Damrongsak Vongtim and Niwat Triyot also turned in a superb performance, finishing second - and the only boat to break the British hold on the first five places.

Damrongsak’s performance could be assigned to the “like father...like son” category, as the old clich้ has it. Three years ago, almost to the day, Damrongsak’s father Vinai stepped out of the Sattahip naval base, challenged a big fleet of visiting Europeans and became the first Thai ever to win a world yacht-racing championship: The Volvo Topcat Worlds.

There are some other similarities between the two events. The venue, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club is the same and Damrongsak’s crew Niwat Triyot also crewed for Vinai. The last - and certainly not the least - common element is that Volvo, pursuing its promotion of sports under the motto “Volvo for Life”, sponsored both the Topcat regatta and the Fireball World Championship.

Old Rivals meet again: Jens Overgaard and the Altens. Photo Peter Cummins

One of the race committee, Mike Rogers, pointed out that almost 30 years ago, Robin Inns’ dad Bryan, with Mike as crew, also finished third in the 1972 Fireball Worlds, sailed that time off Wilmington, North Carolina.

Back in our own waters, there was a “battle royal” between the Scandinavians -Jens Overgaard and Helge Alten who, 16 years ago, were also struggling for supremacy. The only difference between these two occasions was that back in 1984, Jens and Helge were fighting for the top place in a Fireball National Championship. This time, it was somewhere below that!

The last day of the Volvo Fireball World Championship, sailed off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club at South Pattaya was, ironically, the only day that was not conducive to racing. Low, dark clouds glowered around the horizon and the rains came. So, the race management wisely called it off and gave the contestants more time to pack their boats and gear, ready for the return journeys.

It really would not have made much difference for at the end of race eight on Thursday the championship was over and the top four places were clearly established.

The splendid Awards Ceremony was, indeed, a great show: a fitting end to the best world championship ever held at Pattaya. The Volvo Fireball regatta represented the second time that the event had come to Thai shores, the first one being in 1978 when the late Prince Bhirabongse Bhanubandh, pioneer of Fireball racing in Thailand, was Commodore of the Thai Fireball fleet.

The tightly-packed Grand Ballroom of the Royal Cliff was a most suitable venue for the festivities, led by Royal Varuna Yacht Club flag commodore, Rut Subniran, Louis Smyth and Andrew Davies, commodore and secretary, respectively, of Fireball International. Karl-Johan Sandesjo, president of Volvo Car (Thailand) and Helge Alten, Chief Executive, Volvo Event Management, UK Ltd were most happy with the regatta, especially the Awards evening.

The huge crowd was regaled with Thai dancing and sword fighting and was pleasantly surprised when a performance of Muay Thai was presented. The sailors, however, were not as surprised as one of the boxers’ managers found himself on the receiving end of a right cross which laid him out!

The last yachting world championship - also sponsored by Volvo - was the Topcat Worlds, sailed on Pattaya Bay three years ago this month. On that occasion, the more than 400 sailors, supporters and spectators, mostly from Northern European climes, had come to Thailand’s warm, sunny shores - many of them right out of the bitter, sub-zero temperatures of Europe.

As is well known, Volvo has been a consistent and long-standing supporter of many sports, including tennis and motor racing and has recently taken over the major sponsorship of the quadrennial Whitbread Round-the-World yacht race, the most gruelling test of man and machine ever devised. The company’s leitmotif, “Volvo for Life”, is most appropriate.

Louis Smyth and Andrew Davies have been the major force behind bringing this event to Thailand again and were un-abashed in their enthusiasm for the regatta - and Volvo sponsorship - “which was for many of the competitors”, Louis noted, “a celebration of sailing rather than a bid for a world title.”

Full results of the Volvo Fireball World Championship (allowing for each team to discard its worst two races (points): 1. Edwards/Townend (GBR, 3); 2. Pinnell/Flint (GBR, 28.4); 3. Inns/Heritage (AUS, 41); 4. Vongtim/Triyot (THA, 44.7); 5. Goacher/Walbank (GBR, 57.4); 6. Hope/Hextall (GBR, 62); 7. Morrison/Wagstaff (GBR, 64); 8. Hemmings/Chesney (GBR, 80.4); 9. James/Pendrigh (AUS, 90); 10. Young/Schwarz (AUS, 91); 11. Macfarlane/Payne (AUS, 92.7); 12.Inns/Stallan (AUS, 93.4); 13. Wade/Morgan (GBR, 104.7); 14. Gibbs/Gibbs (GBR, 105); 15. Smith/Smith (GBR, 107.7); 16. Garner/O’Brien (AUS, 113.7); 17. Musil/Winkler (CZE, 115); 18. Horey/Davies (GBR, 125); 19. Cullen/Mason (GBR, 140); 20. Potter/Gardner (GBR, 141); 21. Davis/James (AUS, 155); 22. Heywood/Batty (AUS, 156); 23. Davy/Scott (GBR, 159); 24. Peverell/Jones (AUS, 163); 25. Schulz/Fleming (AUS, 164); 26. Townsend/Miller (AUS, 176); 27. Rayner/Rayner (176); 28. Smyth/Rowan (IRL, 178); 29. Nouel/Wright (FRA, 199); 30. Kato/Takei (JPN, 202); 31. Pothi/Thaiking (THAI, 207); 32. Perkins/Coultas (AUS, 211); 33. Vize/Gurr (AUS, 212); 34. Rantanen/McDonald (AUS, 212); 35. Whitehouse/Whitehouse (GBR, 221); 36. Cassidy/Sweeney (IRL, 221); 37. Popple/Clark (GBR, 228); 38. Schulz/Weigand (AUS, 230); 39. Allinson/Shore (GBR, 243); 40. Ishii/Yamaguchi (JPN, 256); 41. Hickey/Butler (IRL. 257); 42. Hara/Kashiyama (JPN, 259); 43. Overgaard/Semple (THA, 266); 44. Szpunar/Schilt (AUS, 289); 45. O’Carroll/O’Carroll (IRL, 295); 46. Alten/Alten (NOR, 298); 47. Louis/O’Rourke (300); 48. Ishibashi/Yoshitake (JPN, 307); 49. Houlihan/Fullen (IRL, 314); 50. Caulfield/Colman (IRL, 329).

Treasure Hunt for Surfers

Amateurs
1: Kamton Praserdkan (Alek), 2: Atit Sugkesom (Pia), and 3: Dean Callister.

Boys
1: Chanon Pratew, 2: Cesta Deeden (Keng), and 3: Pratas Sanggean (Keng)

Bikes and cars shine at Bira!

At the Bira Circuit last weekend, some of the best racing was provided by the supporting events - the 400cc Motorcycle races. While the field was quite strong for the Thailand Touring Car Championships (Round 1), it was the bikes that provided top action with a very strong field, helped by the entries from the Thai International Motorcycle Race School.

All the red lights are out and the motorcycles are just firing off the starting line getting the action underway.

In the cars, once again the Toyota Team Thailand showed they were the class act with Natavud clearing away from everyone at half a second a lap, only to have to slow and finally retire with a broken flywheel. However, his team mate, the lanky film star “Pete”, inherited the lead and delivered the goods to Mr. Toyota with the immaculately prepared Corolla Altis. For once, Pete kept it all together, on the island, off the walls and almost all the other competitors and the Toyota mechanics were undoubtedly happy they did not have to spend 7 days next week in the panel repair shop. Second was Ekprawat in the Honda with Hatai in another Honda third. One of the pre-race favourites, Apathorn punctured a tyre in a first corner contact with “Pete” and finished out of the money.

But the bikes were where it was all happening. Englishman Stuart Green has started the Thai International Motorcycle Race School and his first batch of students really turned it on. Sean Fowler from the UK actually led the Thailand championship until a little over-enthusiasm took over. In the previous race for school entries only, Sean led flag to flag and set a new lap record in the process. All the overseas student riders really enjoyed the day and the Bira Circuit, and Stuart Green will be running more of these schools later in the year. The Shell Thailand Motorcycle Championship race was won by Matt Patterson (Kawasaki) from Wirod Wirodrangsan (Honda) and Stuart Green himself (Yamaha), in third.

The next meeting at Bira will be the second round of the Thailand Touring Car Championship with Qualifying on Saturday April 15th and Race Day Sunday 16th.

Fish & Trips lands another nice sailfish

Thursday March 16 the Fish & Trips fishing team came home with a very nice sixty pound sailfish. The team of five fishermen led by Frank Collins included S. Robinson, K. Gilgrist, W. Taylor, and C. Holloway. The team was fishing on captain Ting’s boat out of Bang Saray. The fish was caught near Krum Island. The fishing team was entered in the Pattaya Sports Club March fishing competition. The winner of the March tournament will be announced at the end of the month.

Mr. Loy Disqualified

PSC Pattaya Golf Society from The Bunker

On a hot 21 March, the Bunker Boys set off to Green Valley for a medal and Stableford competition with the cut at 23 handicap. The first division played medal.

In division two, third place went to Jim Baxter, second place to Vic Simons who shot his best round ever with 35 points but it still was not good enough to beat the golfing Guru himself Mighty Mick Jones who casually went round in par.

Division one’s third place went to Bill Hewitt, second Ken Lill, with the winner being the Lancashire lad himself, Big Will Lathem. Near pins went to Vic, Garry (100 mph) Hammill and the only two good shots he had all day to Remy.

Talking point of the day was the D/Q of the Bunker’s mine-host Mr. Loy. His three playing partners were playing Stableford and as they picked up when they could not score so did Mr. Loy on the long par 5 number 6 hole. Unfortunately for him he was playing medal play and was immediately disqualified, to the great delight of this playing partners who decided to buy drinks all round back at the presentation in the Bunker.

Stephen “Foster” Beard beats Bangpakong

Claes Ernlund Secures Kronborg Monthly Mug

Pattaya Sports Club Golf from the Café Kronborg

Treasure Hill - Monday 20th March (Stableford)

This delightful course produced a three-way tie with 39 points each. Walter Hanak nosed in front on count-back.

Winner: Walter Hanak, 39 points
2nd: Andreas Stalnacke, 39 points
3rd: Bill Hewitt, 39 points
Near pins: #6 Ebrahim, #17 Bill Hewitt

Eastern Star - Thursday 23rd March (Monthly Mug)

Claes Ernlund shot a net 65 to win the March Medal Mug and a well-deserved handicap cut. Eastern Star, which is looking good for the Championship next week, will benefit from the current rainstorms.

Winner: Claes Ernlund, Net 65
2nd: Andreas Stalnacke, Net 71 C/B
3rd: Ossi Viljainen, Net 71
4th: Anek. H, Net 74

Near pins: #3 Derek Brook, #6 Derek Brook, #13 Ossi Viljainen, #17 Vaiur Siurass.

Schumacher 2 - Hakkinen zero!

This season has had a nightmare start for McLaren Mercedes, with the team going home from Australia and Brazil without yet scoring a single point. In the other camp, Ferrari, this has been a great start with their star driver, Michael Schumacher scoring two wins from two, leaving the UK based McLaren team wondering what will happen next.

Schumacher

After the Brazil GP last Sunday, it looked as though Scotland’s David Coulthard had at least scored a firm 2nd place for McLaren, only to find himself disqualified for front wing irregularities six hours after the race had ended.

The race itself proved two things - Ferrari have a master tactician in Ross Brawn and McLaren Mercedes are still running a fast, but fragile package.

At the start of the race, Schumacher passed Coulthard to harass Hakkinen and then passed him with a brilliant manoeuvre to take the lead on lap 2. From there, he just powered away, setting a new lap record at the bumpy Interlagos circuit in the process. While McLaren had opted for a single stop strategy, Ferrari ran light and went for two stops. Schumacher pulled away at over one second a lap and was obviously in command at all times.

Next problem for McLaren was Barichello slipping past Hakkinen to make it a Ferrari 1-2 as it was in Melbourne; however, Barichello expired on lap 26 with engine failure and McLaren breathed easier for a while.

However, when Hakkinen retired on lap 30 it left Schumacher’s Ferrari 8 seconds in front of Coulthard, a gap which he extended to 26 seconds after they both pitted for fuel and tyres.

Towards then end, Schumacher appeared to have a little overheating and paced himself to the finish to take the chequered flag five seconds in front of Coulthard, with a delighted Giancarlo Fisichella in the Benetton third. Fourth and fifth were Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli in the Jordans with Ralf Schumacher sixth in the BMW Williams.

However, with the post race scrutineering dramas and the disqualification of Coulthard, Fisichella became second and young Jenson Button, the 20 year old in only his second Grand Prix was elevated to sixth and his first championship points. So much for those who said the lad was too young to drive in F1.

After two rounds, the score is M. Schumacher 20, Fisichella 8, R. Schumacher and Barichello 6 and Frentzen 4. The next race is the San Marino GP next weekend. Expect a very tight-lipped Ron Dennis from McLaren Mercedes!

Fitness Tips: Learning Cravings

by David Garred
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club

G’Day Pattaya,

Cravings. Hmmmmmm, cravings is a word that to someone in the Health and Fitness industry would immediately put them in a counseling or help giving frame of mind. The same word to a large proportion of the population will conjure up feelings of guilt to some level.

Many things can be and are craved by different people; today in Fitness Tips I want to give you a bit of personal insight into cravings and then deal with the more publicly accepted idea of a ‘bad craving’.

I crave very few things: rugby, cricket and chocolate consumption. As far as I am concerned I can not get enough of any of these three pastimes. To date, I am having trouble finding evidence to the contrary of the theory that Panthers Rugby and Cricket was brought to Pattaya from above. Also, I am having trouble finding problems with the theory that the four basic types of chocolate in the world were sent from below to tempt me.

What are the four types of chocolate?

1. My Grandmother’s home made Chocolate Cake,
2. The Chocolate Moose here at Dusit Resort,
3. The White Chocolate Ice Cream at Paradise Café and
4. All other types of chocolate.

Now, I know I am not alone in my constant cravings for rugby, cricket and the 3 greatest chocolates in the world. I can not and will not be able to address these obsessions, but man has to have a vice and these are fairly socially acceptable.

However, the addressing of the craving of chocolate in general is a real one and I have come across a very interesting piece of research which will help anyone who wants to reduce the amount of chocolate they eat, especially in the interests of reducing body fat.

Chocolate craving is a learned ‘habit’ for the want of a better term of reference and if the craving of chocolate can be learned, for whatever reason, then is it possible to unlearn this habit?

Chocolate craving is common phenomenon. For many women it’s a constant feeling that comes on around mid-afternoon. For others, mostly men, it’s a craving that occurs only occasionally.

Why the difference?

What is the survival value of chocolate that makes it so universally popular?

Chocolate is high in both sugar and fat. It’s also amongst the most easily obtained foods in the modern environment. Reducing this craving therefore could be a way of assisting many people (those with a weight concern in particular) in dealing with their problem.

With this in mind, nutrition researchers in the Health Behaviour Unit at the University College in London, set out to understand chocolate craving with a view to helping those who may or are finding this had to deal with. They studied two groups of people: chocolate cravers and non-cravers. Their idea was to examine how chocolate craving develops.

The origins of craving

Craving for food in general has a biological origin. It is clearly important for hunger to increase when energy stores in the body get low. Biological cravings can presumably be conditioned to certain behavioural patterns. Hence, it’s not unlikely that some cravings may be learned, rather that natural. What this means is that over a long period of time, take your childhood, things like chocolate can be used as a reward system. You do something well you get a bit of chocolate, you obviously like this so you continue to do the same thing or try to do it better. Thus, you learn to associate food with good performance and you possibly learn the craving of good feelings. I don’t want to go too far here as it is delving into psychological reasons for consumption and that is a bit deep for what I want to do today. The eating only road to chocolate craving is where we are going today and that is outlined later in the article.

In the English research, scientists supplied both chocolate cravers and non-cravers with chocolate and instructed them to eat some twice a day for fourteen days. Within each group, one subgroup was asked to eat only when hungry (i.e. at least two hours after a meal), and the other group eat only when full (i.e. directly after a meal).

At the start and end of the two week test period, subjects were asked to rate their craving for chocolate and how much they would like to eat just before they started eating their allotted portions. When they started eating, they were also asked to rate the pleasantness of the taste. All of those tested made their ratings on one day when they were hungry and one day when they were full.

Learned craving

All of those tested who ate chocolate exclusively when hungry increased their craving for chocolate over the test period. For those who were classified as habitual ‘chocolate cravers’ before the test started, this craving only occurred when the ratings were made while they were hungry. In those people who were given chocolate to eat only when they were full, chocolate craving decreased after the two-week test period.

This suggests that the repeated consumption of chocolate, when hungry, will lead to a strong hunger-dependant appetite for that food. This might then be interpreted as a ‘craving’. In other words, people who crave chocolate probably do so because they have conditioned themselves to eat chocolate when hungry and therefore recognise hunger as the signal for chocolate, rather than other foods.

The implications of this are that chocolate craving might be avoided by eating chocolate only when full, rather than to satisfy hunger. Chocolate after a meal is less likely to cause a long-term craving for that food than chocolate before a meal or when otherwise satisfied.

Considering that chocolate is no the only food (or drink) that is craved by your average person, how far do you think you can take this line of thought for other consumables that one might crave or possibly be ‘addicted to’? This may just be a good way for you to cut back, should you so desire...

Carpe’ diem

Auto Mania: 21st International Bangkok Motor Show

by Dr. Iain Corness

The Bangers Motor Show kicks off this weekend and runs until the 9th of April. Situated at BITEC as usual (Km 1 Sukhumvit Bangna, for those who are unsure) this is the premier show we have in Thailand. Promoted by the Grand Prix International Group, this year’s show is bigger and better than ever before. With the financial gloom and doom having lifted, and sales actually on the way up, the manufacturers have approached this year’s show with optimism.

The organisers too have made sure of the internationality, not only with exhibitors, but also with the foreign press as well. Australia is represented by my old mate, John Weinthal, recently voted auto writer of the year in Oz. Me? I am representing Pattaya Mail’s Automania, all the way from the Eastern Seaboard, where the automotive heartland of Thailand really lies. With FoMoCo, GeeEmm and BeeEmm all up and running (well, almost) we deserve our title as the Detroit of the East, although BMW will probably cringe at that, on reflection!

Bangkok Motor Show runs from this weekend through to April 9

There are 22 different vehicle exhibitors, with many showing more than one make, and almost all having more than one model. DaimlerChrysler, for example, showing both Mercedes Benz and Chrysler offerings with the new Neon and Voyager as well as the super upmarket SLC and CL 500 plus E and S class cars.

Yontrakit Intersales has both the new VW Beetle and the Audi TT Roadster and the A3 Three door Turbo as well as the A6 variants on display.

BMW has my lovely Z3 Roadster as well as the new 3 series cars and the 5 and 7 models.

Jaguar is presenting the XK 180 and the XJ 220 and the simply beautiful Alfa Romeo 166 and 156 coupes will be on show. There will be stands with Ferrari and Maserati. All the major players are also well represented with Honda bringing the S2000 sports car again (wish they would release the damn thing here) as well as a concept car and one of the petrol/electric hybrid engine vehicles.

Toyota will be their usual opulent “over the top” selves and as well as concept vehicles will have the new Yaris and Lexus. Ford have the new double cab Ranger and also the new Laser and Explorer models. Volvo have several models on display, including the very interesting C70 Cabriolet, along with the S80 T6, and the S70, S40 and V40.

Isuzu, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda and all the exhibitors will be working hard tempting the customers to open their wallets and say after me, “Help yourself!”

There are also numerous accessories stands and some motorcycle displays. If you are interested in cars, then this is certainly one show you should not miss. It runs from tomorrow, Saturday 1st April (it’s no April Fool’s joke, honest!) until the 9th of April.

I will be reviewing some of the more interesting vehicles over the next few weeks, so stay tuned! I’ll probably be reviewing some of the duller and more mundane ones too - it’s part of the job, I suppose!

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked where did the name Cosworth come from? This was dead easy, being an amalgamation of Frank COStin and Keith DuckWORTH. This was thought to be much better than the alternative DUCKTIN or TINDUCK. Cosworths are the “winningest” engines in the world, having won more GP’s than anyone else, I believe.

So to this week and let’s stick with motor racing names. Eric Broadley was the man who designed and built the Lola cars. These were incredibly successful and I am fortunate enough to have driven a Lola Formula 5000, the formula that was raced as F1 in Australia in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

The question, for the Automania FREE beer this week, is simply, where did our Eric get the name from and why? Be the first to fax 427 596 or email [email protected] with the correct answer and the beer’s yours.

The world’s a small place

The world really is a small place, and getting smaller every day. However, Pattaya’s an even smaller place, but the General doesn’t seem to know this yet. A couple of weeks back, our new kid on the block, GM, decided to run a secret test of the new Zafiras being assembled down the road at the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate.

This test was held at the local Bira Race Circuit, with the Zafiras grinding around for three days, with two other blocks of three days scheduled for later in the month. Unfortunately for GM, they decided to do this secretly. Secretly? In Thailand? In Pattaya? Come on chaps, it was local pub knowledge weeks ago!

Yet more on new F1 race circuits

Remember the par on the proposed new circuit for U-Tapao? An F1 race for Thailand? Even the Bangkok Metro magazine and Bangkok Post mentioned it.

Well, there was a proposal for a new track in Korea a couple of years back. To get on to the “short list” of tracks wanting a date in the F1 calendar, the promoters involved had to put down a surety deposit with the one and only Bernie Ecclestone (AKA Mr. F1).

How much was the deposit? It was a cool 7.5 Million pounds, that’s all. They had to have the circuit up and running to FIA standards by 1998 to continue dialogue with Bernie E, and guess what? They didn’t manage it and the courts have decreed the Korean chaps forfeit the money. Mr. Ecclestone is now laughing all the way to the bank! Nice one, Bernie!

It is for reasons such as these that you can see it is not easy to break into the F1 travelling circus. At best, I think the U-Tapao concept was misguided. At worst? Well remember Mr. E’s words printed a couple of weeks back in this column, “People tend to use my name to open doors that should not be opened and in particular Thailand, as we do not have any intention of granting a round of the World Championship there at the moment, nor do we have any contacts there.” ‘Nuff said!

Copyright 2000  Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]
Updated by Chinnaporn Sangwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.