The Royal Thai Naval Cadet Yacht Club

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Royal Thai Naval Cadet Yacht Club

The Royal Thai Naval Cadet Yacht Club (NCYC) is the one of the Naval Cadet activities. We are professional in sailing, particularly in a yacht, a dinghy and windsurfing. At the beginning of the Royal Thai Naval Academy (RTNA), all Naval Cadets had to study sailing and some of them established the yacht club for sport and recreation. According to “Samsamor Magazine” of 1995 the new era of the NCYC started that year, because they received 3 MRX class keel boats and some dinghies. They sailed to the Sattahip Naval Base on weekends and practiced in the Chao Praya river every afternoon.
Now the clubhouse is located at a riverside in the north of the RTNA, Samutprakarn, Thailand. There are 4 boathouses and the club’s office. The NCYC has many kind of sailing boats, such as the MRX keel boat, Laser class, Fireball class, Enterprise class, Optimist class and Super mod class (The super mod is the boat His Majesty the King Rama IX designed.), there are 25 sailors and 3 technicians. The chairman of the club is NC. Kawin Prayoonyuang, a 4-year cadet. The supervising officer is Lt.- Cdr. Nanthapon Naksuwan.
We are skillful and experienced. The motto of the club is “We rule the sea”. We join many competitions, such as the Hun-Hin Regatta in July, Navy sports week in November, the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta in December and the Andaman Cup Regatta in December too. We get many honorable prizes every year. The most important competition is the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta because this is an international competition with more than 100 yachts from many countries, such as the USA, the UK, Oceania and all countries in South-east Asia. His Majesty the King will present the first prize himself. If you want to know more about sailing or you want to beat us, call us at the clubhouse.

Q: What is the different between a yacht and a dinghy?

A: A yacht is a big sailing boat and has a keel below the waterline for balance. She has more than one mainsail to keep her sailing. The crew of a yacht is more than 2 people. She has compartments, such as a bedroom, a toilet and a kitchen. A yacht can be sailed at open sea or the ocean. A dinghy is a sailing boat. It uses one or two crew to sail her and there are no compartments.

References
Songcharean, Vice-Admiral Warong. “The sailing era of the Royal Thai Naval Academy.” Samsamor Magazine. 1995: 6-9.
Sakultem, Naval Cadet Pornprom. “Let’s sail.” Samsamor Magazine. 1995: 74-75.

Wikipedia. 4 September 2007.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Interview

Quote ‘n Quote

Now, we have an interview with Lt-Cdr. Tara Kaewaroon, the boathouse master and head of the team of technicians.
Q: How did you become the boathouse master? And, what is your duty?
A: I have worked at the boathouse, Department of Navigation and Seamanship, Education Branch, RTNA since I was a Petty Officer first class. That was more than 20 years ago. When I was promoted to commissioned officer, I became the boathouse master. I take care of the boathouse, fix all kinds of boats and teach seamanship to naval cadets.
Q: What is the importance of a technician in a sailing race?
A: All boats must be taken care of by skillful men. Sometimes we fix broken parts and make them ready for the race. Good technicians can modify boats for better performance and more speed. We are like the F-1 crew in F-1 racing.
Q: How to win a sailing race?
A: You have to know sailing theory, boat handling and basic meteorology. Hard practice is very important. But the most important is your boat. You must take care of your boat like your child.
Q: In the Navy Games, the NCYC couldn’t win many prizes. We only reached the 4th place in the team racing. What is your opinion?
A: The NCYC is growing. We do better every year. One day, we will be the champion. We have to practice harder to reach the first place.
Q: What is the future plan of the NCYC?
A: We will have a new boathouse, which can keep more boats and more equipment. All sailors will have new, high-performance sailing gloves in 2008. And we will buy a 25 HP- engine lifeboat for the support team. (Kaewaroon)