The sailors' causes, however, were not helped by poor conditions that gripped the tournament since day one as the wind blew at a speed that could only just keep the boats moving, leaving race officials to shorten the course by half in some divisions.

Apart from the wind, intermittent showers and a strong tide forced the competitors to endure possibly the worst conditions of the event so far.

With other yachts struggling to negotiate poor conditions, defending champions Royal Thai Navy took charge in the IRC2 category by finishing first in one hour and 51 minutes.

"It was a tough day. We faced some difficulties at the start as the wind blew very low, around 3-5 knots. We had to contend with

the strong tide that normally occurs in this region during the season,"

said the 31-year-old captain, Peera Sagultem.

"One of our rivals protested as we were about to set sail. To prove our innocence and not waste time in dispute, we penalised ourselves by turning our boat around for two rounds before resuming sailing," Peera said.

"We tried not to think about the incident and kept focusing on the job. Fortunately, there was only one boat ahead us, the one that protested.

"Despite all the trouble, I'm definitely happy with the result as I hope to retain the title," Peera said.

In the top-flight class, Racing One, well-known sailor Neil Pryde of New Zealand on his new boat "Hi Fi" upped the ante to reclaim the title by finishing the round in first place, clocking one hour and 33 minutes.

The contest is expected to be tight in the closing stages of the Multihull Racing division after Australia's Philip Day skippered "The Sting" home in first place in two hours and 12 minutes, while Thailand's Radab Kanjanavanit, who topped the overall honours, failed to finish the race.

Today is a lay day with competitors taking the opportunity to fix any damage to their boats in order to keep them in the best possible shape before the race resumes tomorrow.