Great wind, stunning topography, and some of the best sailors and sleekest boats in the region marked the start of the 29th Bay Regatta today – what more could you ask for?

The 2026 regatta returned to its traditional start, with a northeasterly beat into Phang Nga Bay, before turning south to follow a slalom course around a series of islands, finishing at the Blue Bay Beach Resort on the sheltered west coast of Koh Yao Yai, where the evening’s awards presentation was staged.

Thirty-four sailboats registered for this year’s regatta, spread over five classes (Performance Monohulls, IRC Racing, Monohull Cruising, OMR Multihulls, & Cruising Multihulls) headed out this morning on the Bay Regatta through some of the world’s most stunning karst topography on their four-day nautical journey.

Simon James and Kae Wattana of Regattas Asia have done what no one else in this region were able to do: stage a regatta every year throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s right, the Bay Regatta didn’t miss a beat – this year’s version being the 29th straight.

Held from February 18-22, the Bay Regatta is a series of passage races – an event format that catches the attention of the region’s best sailors. This four-day sailing trek throughout Phang Nga Bay focuses on fun. Attracting the serious, the not-so-serious and the not-at-all-serious “racing” sailors, the regatta appeals to those who enjoy the stunning sailing grounds of the area and a different destination each evening.

Starting just off of Ao Po Grand Marina on Phuket's east coast, after registration and an opening party yesterday evening at the lovely Supalai Scenic Bay resort, the yachts sailed south.

Everyone sailed the same 25-mile course. It all started at 10am as PRO and regatta organizer Simon James had three starts for the competitors: first off were the performance monohulls (4 boats) followed by rest of the monos (18 boats) and then all the multihulls.

The fleet set off from Koh Naka Yai, then rounded mark one to port (approx. four miles to windward). Then the fleet rounded Koh Thanan to port, and then Koh Sup to starboard, and Koh Lipe to port before finishing off Ao Lo Paret with the committee boat to starboard.

The elite four-boat Performance Monohull class saw Ray Roberts’ Team Hollywood beat Peter Cremers’ Shatoosh by just over six minutes on elapsed time, with Hans Rahmann’s Yasooda finishing third by just over 1 minute on corrected time and Steve McConaghy’s Aftershock, coming in fourth.

The eight-boat IRC Racing Class saw Maksby Lisun’s Dynamite edge out Craig Nichols’ Alright by just over three minutes on corrected time with the Estonian team on Gern Kard, led by Matti Sep, finishing just 00.00.19 seconds behind Alright (how close was that?).

The ten-boat Monohull Cruising Class then saw Philippe Dallée’s Swan II (a Swan 43 - 1969) take top spot with Nikiforov Evgenii’s Ganett 2 eight-and-a-half minutes back in second place. James Duke’s Kimikimi took the bronze medal in this class today.

The six-boat OMR Multihull class witnessed Dan Fidock’s sleek Parabellum fly around the course as it is prone to do winning the class and taking line honours in the process with a time of 01:50:46. David Liddell’s Stealth Wow was second, edging out John Newnham’s Firefly Twin Sharks, by 53 seconds.

Finally, the six boat Cruising Multihull class was won by Welshman Glywn Rowlands’ Twister 2 who beat Lt Col Brigadier James Baxter (OBE)’s Zephyrus by 52 seconds on corrected time., Michael Hähnel’s Liberty (formerly Phantom 5) came third in the class.