FOR THE first time, Thailand's sailing waters will be included in the final leg of a six-month sailing rally that stretches from Darwin, Australia, to Phuket.
More than 20 yachts are set to arrive to Chalong Bay on New Year's Day for the start of the Sail Thailand Rally, which will last until January 21.
The Phuket portion is the last link of the five-country rally that first ran as a Sail Indonesia event and then as the Sail Malaysia Rally, both of which have been held annually since 2001.
It began in Darwin on July 26 with 122 yachts travelling up through many ports-of-call in Indonesia including Bali, then to Singapore.
The fleet reached Malaysia in mid-October, where nearly 70 yachts sailed up the Malacca Strait with stops at Lumut, Penang and Langkawi.
About four in five of the sailors set to arrive in Phuket are Australian, most of whom have never sailed in Thailand before, says organiser Bianca Hein of Marina Blue Productions.
Bianca is a veteran sailor who is set to retire her US Coast Guard captain's license on the same day the Sail Thailand Rally ends on January 21.
She was on hand to present sailors with the Pensea Mariners Certificate on December 20 at the final Malaysian event in Langawi, just before the yachts set off for Phuket.
The Certificate was properly christened in preparation for the event by being put in a seabag and taken along Thailand's major waterways, starting at the Ping River in the foothills of Chiang Mai.
It was then taken to the Gulf of Thailand, where it began a journey from the east coast to the west coast of Thailand by sea via Singapore around the Malay peninsula.
As Bianca said, ''You don't just show up with a printed piece of paper.''
The rally is also set to showcase the local marine industry, with a number of services including engine repair and interior work already scheduled to be done by Phuket-based companies on the visiting yachts.
Marina Blue has prepared a lively and up-to-date e-book to help visiting sailors unfamiliar with local conditions and services, with Bill O'Leary, Mark Horwood and other well-known Phuket yachting experts contributing to the book.
January 9 will be a Meet and Greet the Fleet day, with rally sailors set to have a full tour of Phuket's four major marinas and other marine businesses, ending with a dinner at Kan Eang@Pier in Chalong Bay that will have many local marine trade people rubbing shoulders with the sailors.
More information at www.marina-blue.com.
More than 20 yachts are set to arrive to Chalong Bay on New Year's Day for the start of the Sail Thailand Rally, which will last until January 21.
The Phuket portion is the last link of the five-country rally that first ran as a Sail Indonesia event and then as the Sail Malaysia Rally, both of which have been held annually since 2001.
It began in Darwin on July 26 with 122 yachts travelling up through many ports-of-call in Indonesia including Bali, then to Singapore.
The fleet reached Malaysia in mid-October, where nearly 70 yachts sailed up the Malacca Strait with stops at Lumut, Penang and Langkawi.
About four in five of the sailors set to arrive in Phuket are Australian, most of whom have never sailed in Thailand before, says organiser Bianca Hein of Marina Blue Productions.
Bianca is a veteran sailor who is set to retire her US Coast Guard captain's license on the same day the Sail Thailand Rally ends on January 21.
She was on hand to present sailors with the Pensea Mariners Certificate on December 20 at the final Malaysian event in Langawi, just before the yachts set off for Phuket.
The Certificate was properly christened in preparation for the event by being put in a seabag and taken along Thailand's major waterways, starting at the Ping River in the foothills of Chiang Mai.
It was then taken to the Gulf of Thailand, where it began a journey from the east coast to the west coast of Thailand by sea via Singapore around the Malay peninsula.
As Bianca said, ''You don't just show up with a printed piece of paper.''
The rally is also set to showcase the local marine industry, with a number of services including engine repair and interior work already scheduled to be done by Phuket-based companies on the visiting yachts.
Marina Blue has prepared a lively and up-to-date e-book to help visiting sailors unfamiliar with local conditions and services, with Bill O'Leary, Mark Horwood and other well-known Phuket yachting experts contributing to the book.
January 9 will be a Meet and Greet the Fleet day, with rally sailors set to have a full tour of Phuket's four major marinas and other marine businesses, ending with a dinner at Kan Eang@Pier in Chalong Bay that will have many local marine trade people rubbing shoulders with the sailors.
More information at www.marina-blue.com.
