Thailand's sailing boom continues this week with the third annual Evason Phuket Raceweek gaining a record amount of entries.

The third Evason Phuket Raceweek, which starts on Thursday, will mark the continued growth in Thailand's only "green season" regatta as well as the country's growing marine leisure industry.

"We have 32 confirmed entries this far ahead of official registration day, so we are fairly confident that we'll exceed last year's numbers by at least 10 boats," said organiser Andy Dowden, who added that there are always a few boats which just turn up on the day.

Raceweek 2005 saw 29 boats start on the first day of racing in steady winds of 20 knots gusting to 25 knots. Raceweek is held in what is known as the "green season", the end of the annual monsoon's winds and rains, making conditions exciting for sailing boats.

Last year's event saw its share of drama too, when one unfortunate boat sank after hitting an uncharted rock and another capsized spectacularly in the strong winds.

But thanks to the fast action of rescue teams, the crews involved suffered only minor injuries.

Racing this year will take place over six or seven classes, with a high proportion of Phuket-built boats competing in the faster racing classes.

The multihull racing class has two fast Phuket-built Fireflys - Moto Inzi and the brand new Chi Machine - lined up against Charro, X-Catriot and veteran racer Henry Kaye's Australian-built The Sting.

The Sports Boat Racing class will see four locally-built Phuket 8s compete for the Raceweek trophy against the new Beneteau First Class 7.5, with a crack team from New Zealand being flown in to challenge the home grown talent.

The biggest fleet by far is the hotly-contested IRC class, with old faces from Thailand's racing scene pitting their skills against newcomers.

One as yet unconfirmed Raceweek entry is keen local yacht racer Koravik Nualkair, the daughter of prominent businessman and avid sailor Viroj Nualkair.

Koravik, whose nickname is Wickie, is reported to be heading down to Phuket with an 11-strong family team to take on last year's IRC Class 1 winner Ruby Tuesday, which is skippered by John Vause.

The visually striking local boat Switchblade is competing under the Max Marine banner this year, while Mike Bein is giving his new Suk San Song its first competitive outing.

David Lindahl's always-competitive La Samudra, local legend Horst Lakits' Big A, Stuart Crowe's Cinders and regatta stalwart George Foose's Free Wind line up with newcomer Chetak, skippered by Jim Kane, and Malaysian entrant BeauX Esprits.

The performance cruising cats will be well represented by Bob Mott's stable of regionally built aluminium boats, and the trend for large multihull fleets seems set to continue.

Club class is growing slowly with three entries. Mostly crewed by live-aboard sailors, these

boats tend to enter in the last few days.

Last, but by no means least, amongst the Raceweek participants is the Classic Class. The classic Danish schooner Seraph celebrates its 100th birthday with a special invitation race, competing against four other stunning classic boats - Kerida, Anjuna, Aumgaia and Sanook.

This will be the first time in Thailand that five boats in this class have actively raced against each other, and should offer some stunning photographic opportunities.

Evason Phuket Raceweek presents a full week of international-standard yacht racing for a wide range of yachts - from the highly competitive top racers all the way to live-aboard cruisers and charter boats.

Based at the Evason Phuket Resort, the social programme will be five-star, offering excellent catering and first-class entertainment — and very special low-season rates for luxury accommodation.

The weather in southern Thailand has been brisk in the last few weeks and the scene looks set for some great racing.

The sponsors' line-up includes hosts Evason Phuket Resort, Raimon Land, a solid supporter of Thailand's regatta scene, Big A Resort, Royal Phuket Marina, Lee Marine, Seraph Cruises, Phuket International Hospital, Electrical Marine, Phuket Inter Wood, Boat Lagoon and Sunsail.

Alan Parkhouse

The Nation