By Scott Murray - Sea Yachting.

After a buffet and awards presentation at the Ibiza Resort on Koh Phi Phi, the 27th Bay Regatta fleet was well rested and set out for day two of the 2024 Bay Regatta on Friday, February 2nd. Beginning with two combined starts for the competitors: first off were the multihulls followed by all the monohulls.

All competitors raced course 2B today, a 14-mile course, which started off Koh Phi Phi Don for a traditionally “windward” course. Passing Koh Mai Phai to port, and then Koh Khom (Lao Pe) to starboard, where yachts experienced a 180-degree wind shift, with most then putting up their spinnaker before passing Koh Dam Khwan to port, and then Koh Dam Hok to port before finishing between the start boat and Koh Ya Man. All competitors but one crossed the finish line. And again, as it is prone to do Dan Fidock’s Extreme 40 Parabellum flew through the course, again capturing line honours.

The three-boat IRC Premier Monohull class saw a repeat of day one as the predominately Chinese crew on Aftershock, a Davidson 59, skippered by Steve McConaghy, took first overall, followed by Hans Rahmann’s Yasooda, a JV Custom 70, and Craig Nicholls/James Bury’s Alright (formerly Emagine), a Sydney 40.

Then in the five-boat IRC Racing Class Andrey Novoderezhkin’s Madame Butterfly, a 3/4 Ton Modified, flip-flopped spots with Aliaksandre Racheuski’s Uminoko, a Farr One Ton, from day one, finishing first with Uminoko coming second this time. Niels Degenkolw’s X ¾ Ton Phoenix placed third again, while Kirill Stashevskiy’s Platu Andaman Discovery- Som Tam Pu (formerly Scott Duncanson’s Kingdom Properties) finished fourth for the second straight day. Piccolo, a former Sydney-Hobart winner, came fifth again, although the five Canadians who had flown in from frigid Edmonton, Alberta, to act as crew on the Farr 1104, skipped by Andre den Braven, were determined to reach the finish line and did.

The eight-boat IRC Cruising Class saw Sergei Musikhin’s Wind of Change, a Beneteau Oceanis 43, win for the second straight day with James Duke’s Kimikimi, a Dufour 455GL, jumping up from a fifth-place finish on day one to second today. Paul Merry’s Night Train, a Hanse 415, repeated its third-place showing from day one (Interestingly, Night Train is always the first boat on the course in the morning – there must be something in their coffee).

The results were the same in the Cruising Monohull class as Philippe Dallée’s sleek Swan II (a Swan 43 - 1969) won again followed by Steven Wong’s Snap Dragon, a Peterson 46.

The OMR Multihull class saw Dan Fidock’s Parabellum, an Extreme 40, do what it does best: win & take line honours in the regatta. Dougal Jackson’s Haruki, an Alan Cawardine Stealth 13.2, jumped up from sixth spot yesterday to finish second today. John Newnham’s veteran crew on Twin Sharks, a Firefly 850 Sportsboat, finished third. Parabellum’s speed continued to turn heads she cruised by to line honours in 01:40:54. Haruki was the next boat across the line in 02:34:28.

Grant Richardson’s Sea Mi Amore, a Catana 47 Ocean Class, won the seven-boat Cruising Multihull class again with Bob McIntyre’s Allegro, a Stealth 13, coming in second. Rick Fielding’s Mojo, a Fusion 40, partied hard and moved up from fourth spot on day one to third overall in the class today.

It was a free night in the Krabi area for all competitors as the awards for today’s races will be handed out tomorrow at Vacation Village - the Phra Nang Inn in Ao Nang. Simon James plans to hold two races off of Ao Nang in the Krabi area on day three of the regatta.