THA SSL GOLD CUP – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

QUALIFYING SERIES | MAY-JULY 2022 | SWITZERLAND

FINAL SERIES | 10 November-3 December 2023 | BAHRAIN

Events (Provisional dates)

Replay

QS ROUND 5

RACE 1

12:55

14 July 2022

Switzerland

Participants

UKR

THA

KOR

SGP

Points

Replay

QS ROUND 5

RACE 2

14:05

14 July 2022

Switzerland

Participants

SGP

THA

UKR

KOR

Points

Replay

QS ROUND 5

RACE 3

11:05

15 July 2022

Switzerland

Participants

UKR

THA

SGP

KOR

Points

Replay

QS ROUND 5

RACE 4

13:28

16 July 2022

Switzerland

Participants

UKR

THA

KOR

SGP

Points

Replay

QS ROUND 5

RACE 5

14:35

16 July 2022

Switzerland

Participants

UKR

THA

SGP

KOR

Points

Replay

QS ROUND 5

RACE 6

11:05

17 July 2022

Switzerland

Participants

THA

UKR

KOR

SGP

Points

Upcoming

1/32 FINALS

RACE 1

11:00

10 November 2023

Switzerland

Participants

TBD

Points

Upcoming

1/32 FINALS

RACE 2

12:00

11 November 2023

Switzerland

Participants

TBD

Points

Upcoming

1/32 FINALS

RACE 3

13:00

12 November 2023

Switzerland

Participants

TBD

Points

Upcoming

1/32 FINALS

RACE 4

14:00

13 November 2023

Switzerland

Participants

TBD

Points

Upcoming

1/32 FINALS

RACE 5

11:00

14 November 2023

Switzerland

Participants

TBD

Points

See All Races

Chang Thai (Elephant or Elephas Maximas)

CHAI YO Thailand! THis means Cheer Thailand, it’s commonly used to celebrate victory, When Nai won the optimist world championships, all the Thai’s Chanted Chai Yo!!!

Elephant…. Charging into the SSL gold cup pushing everyone out of our way….

The sport of sailing in Thailand took off in the 1950’s when the former King, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, began promoting the sport. As a prominent racer and boat builder Sailing began to flourish under his Royal Patronage with the opening of Marine Sport centers and Yacht racing centers. These centers are located in the gulf of Thailand, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in Chonburi province, and the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, based in Sattahip. While our team is based in the Thai gulf, Phuket, located in the Andaman Sea, hostsThe King’s Cup Regatta. The King’s Cup brings the fastest yachts in Asia to compete across the range in big boats.

With the support of the royal family and the world class races, Sailing has become one of Thailand’s most successful sports. The country has led in the medal table within the Asian and SouthEast Asian games. It has become a reliable source of medals for the country at the Asian Games. The country has also seen success in the Optimist class. Over the past ten years, Thailand has been at the top of the world optimist fleet with numeros top tens, a World Championships win (With our team Captain Nai in 2010), and most recently with Weka Bhanubandh winning the 2020 Optimist European Championships.

Our Team is quite a young team!

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

>3,000km of Coastline!
1,430 Islands!
Massive Youth Program ~ more than 300 active Optimists

ACHIEVEMENTS

4 World Champions
36 Continental Podiums
3 Olympic Athletes

Ssl ranking

SSL best ranked woman: Thorfun Boonak 1722
SSL best ranked man: Weka Bhanubandh 344
SSL nations ranking: 38

MAIN EVENTS

Phuket Kings Cup Regatta
Eastern Sea Board Regatta
Top of the Gulf Regatta

112

It was Nai’s sail number during her time sailing the optimist and the 29er, she used it to win the Optimist worlds, multiple Asian Games, and finish first mixed crew in the 29er worlds. It is also the winning score card for a 3 race series!

The captain

Noppakao, Nai, Poonpat

In Thai, Nai means Boss. She manages to get her way and win events. Most notably 2 Asian Games Gold Medals, and the Optimist World Championships. Nai also finished a noteworthy 4th at the 29er world championships after having only sailed in the boat for two weeks! When it comes to her putting her mind to winning she ends up on top.
She has been away from the sport for a couple of years and has recently become a fully licensed pharmacist and has opened a Pharmacy in Bangkok! Her hiatus from sailing was, however, not a full hiatus, as she would continue to helm a TP 52 team that has been dominant in Asia over the last 4 years.

THE LEADERS

Navee Thamsoontorn

Navee Thamsoontorn represented Thailand in the 470; he has spent most of his life on boats and sailing in Thailand. As a young boy, he dreamed about becoming a sailor at the Olympics! While he has not yet made it to the Olympics, his dream comes true every day he gets to go out onto the water. While he doesn’t currently have a next sailing goal, he looks forward to racing at the SSL gold cup and representing the Thai National Sailing team in the future. The SSL Gold Cup will be his first time racing on a boat over 25 feet!

Dylan Whitcraft

Dylan Whitcraft is a 49er sailor for Thailand. He is regarded as one of the best cres in Asia. Currently sailing an olympic campaign for Team Thailand, and the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya. In the rare moments when not sailing, Dylan lives on a Mango farm that backs up on Khaoyai national park, and frequently has wild elephants as guests.

Don Whitcraft

Don Whitcraft started sailing at 5 after his parents insisted and scared himself just the right amount to keep coming back for more. By 10 he was hooked to racing. Being in the same generation as our best Opti team ever, he learned a lot from chasing behind Nai and Saa. After taking a break to focus on his studies, he has been campaigning in the 49er with his brother Dylan. Having some strong results but struggling with consistency, he missed out on the Tokyo qualification. Don is super excited to get the opportunity to race against some of the best sailors ever. Besides Sailing, Don enjoys chess and exploring the world through google earth.

THE YOUTH FACTOR

Sailing in Thailand has shown prominence in the world stage only recently. This means that our team is mostly made up of youngsters. At the moment our oldest sailor is 27 years old! With an average age of 24, Putting us on the map as one of the youngest teams in the SSL gold cup! Hopefully this makes us a team to watch out for in the future!

Confirmed Athletes

Noppakao “Nai” Poonpat

CAPTAIN | 10

TRIMMER | 6

TACTICIAN | 9

TBC | TBC

MAIN TRIMMER | 6

TRIMMER | 5

BOW | 1

MID BOW | 3

Alexander Amarit Frefel

PIT | 2

PIT | 2

GRINDER | 4

MAIN TRIMMER | 7

FLOATER | 8

Theoretical Team Position

1 BOW Anusorn Ngamrit	2 MID-BOW Sanont Khaisaeng
3 PIT Nichapa Waiwai	4 GRINDER John Scott Heinecke
5 TRIMMER Nut Butmarasri	6 TRIMMER Dylan Whitcraft
7 MAIN TRIMMER Chusit Punjamala	8 HELM Noppakao “Nai” Poonpat
9 TACTICIAN Don Whitcraft	10 CAPTAIN Noppakao “Nai” Poonpat
11 FLOATER Alexander Amarit Frefel

BOW

Anusorn Ngamrit

MID-BOW

Sanont Khaisaeng

PIT

Nichapa Waiwai

GRINDER

John Scott Heinecke

TRIMMER

Nut Butmarasri

TRIMMER

Dylan Whitcraft

MAIN TRIMMER

Chusit Punjamala

HELM

Noppakao “Nai” Poonpat

TACTICIAN

Don Whitcraft

CAPTAIN

Noppakao “Nai” Poonpat

FLOATER

Alexander Amarit Frefel

SQUAD

Noppakao “Nai” Poonpat	Dylan Whitcraft
Don Whitcraft	Sophia Montgomery
Navee Thamsoontorn	Nut Butmarasri
Anusorn Ngamrit	Sanont Khaisaeng
Nichapa Waiwai	John Scott Heinecke
Chusit Punjamala	Alexander Amarit Frefel