Stealths at The Bay Regatta

The 29th Bay regatta was held from the 28th to the 22nd February, with six Stealth performance catamarans entered into two divisions, OMR Multihulls and Cruising Multihulls.

“The 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”, says Scott Murray at Sea Yachting Magazine.

The Stealth Entries – 29th Bay Regatta

Regatta views and comments from the Stealth Owners.

Across Phang Nga Bay’s iconic limestone seascape, six Stealth models delivered speed, control, and style in one of Asia’s most spectacular regattas.

John Hearne, Owner of the Stealth 11.8 Boreas.

The Bay regatta is one of the best regattas you can do!

33 yachts, across various divisions, racing around scenic islands over four days, followed by parties in a different resort, and the Bay Regatta becomes an elite event.

Throw in 3 Asia Catamaran Stealths with some great on-water competition (within the class competition of 6 catamarans) and things don’t get much better. The 3 Stealths, Wow, Haruki and Boreas are all slightly different ages (and sizes), but all showed various bursts of speed.
WOW was the most consistent over the regatta, so hearty congratulations to them.

Conditions varied from 0 to 30knots of wind. One long work on day two had tide versus wind making a short, steep, and uncomfortable seaway, but all the Stealths came through unscathed. A testament to the builds.

The camaraderie off the water is evident among all the competitors, with the Stealth Teams growing close.
The Bay Regatta should be a “must-do” for any keen sailors.

Dougal & Jen Jackson, Haruki (Stealth 13C)

The 2026 Bay Regatta was the third for Haruki and remains one of our all-time favourites on the sailing calendar.

Despite having the atmosphere of a rally, the racing is always at the highest level. Simon James runs a tight regatta, and strong competition, particularly from the other Stealths, WOW and Boreas, meant no room for mistakes.

Unfortunately, we made too many this year! A few calls that didn’t pay off, some unlucky shifts, a navigation error, and a couple of abandoned races dashed our hopes of reclaiming our 2025 Bay Regatta title.

But it’s hard to get too down about it when you’re racing in paradise.

From the stunning Lo Paret anchorage to the iconic chaos of Ao Nang, courses weaving through karst cliffs, live music at Port Takola, and a great bunch of people, especially the multihull fleet, it’s impossible to have a bad day at the Bay.

And there’s no better boat to do it on. Sailing a Stealth is a thrill in any breeze. This year gave us the opportunity to test Haruki in everything from zero to thirty-five knots.

Day two had us reaching along Ko Yao Yai in spicy conditions, clocking over 22 knots under first reef and jib. Skimming a hull for three hours definitely got the blood pumping—the emotion of making it to the finish in one piece, and second across the line, was only topped by finding out we sailed the wrong side of an island and scored NSC.

On the other end of the wind spectrum, the final race saw us bravely slogging towards the finish of an already shortened course at three knots STW in two knots TWS on the zero, while most of the fleet drifted backwards in the current. What other bridge deck cruising multi does that? Sometimes, Stealths seem to straight-up defy physics.

A second-place finish for sister ship, WOW, was extremely well deserved. David, Helen and crew had the big girl of the Asia Catamarans fleet moving at an unbeatable pace, proving why they’ve won races around the world. Likewise, John, Zam, and the Boreas crew sailed smart and consistently, narrowly missing a podium placing. Huge congrats to both, and to the rest of the fleet. It’s events and people like these that make us love racing multihulls. We’re already looking forward to doing it all again in 2027 to celebrate the Bay Regatta’s 30th year

Karen and Glywn Rowlands, owners of Twister 2, a Stealth 12 metre

Twister 2 has competed in at least seven Bay Regattas since its launch and is our favourite regatta; we have also had some great results over the years, especially against the other Stealths. All ways well run, with great evening venues.

This year, we entered the cruising class, not the OMR racing division. The reason being we wanted a less stressful few days, and we had intended to sail short-handed with just 4 up: Glywn, Karen, daughter Sian, and lovely Oi, so three females and Glywn.

Day 1 saw us late for the start, which was a joint multihull on the same course.  We ended up having a tussle towards the finish as the wind picked up with Liberty V, for a great 1st.

On Day 2, after experiencing steering problems, we retired from the race.

Day 3: having fixed the problem and reached Ao Nang, I am able to race.

Day 4, the long run back to Chalong, we had a great start and some good photos too. Unfortunately, the race was eventually abandoned. No way to finish, sadly.

David Lidell, owner of WOW, a 14-metre Stealth 14 GT

WOW is a 14-metre Stealth, built in 2015, and the only Stealth to have sailed around the world. She had just finished the Langkawi regatta, where we did rather well, winning four of the ten races, and would have finished higher overall but for losing two races due to a broken jib swivel, ending up with third place. Since last year, WOW seems to have gained noticeable boat speed, which we believe is mostly down to Zam from Asia Cats raking the mast further forward.

For The Bay Regatta, we’ve lined up a crew of six: myself, Helen, Yves (who sailed on WOW extensively on round the world voyage), Jonathan (Helen’s cousin’s son), and two new additions, Stu and David (true blue Aussie Stealth sailors), whom we borrowed from Haruki. The Multihull racing class comprised three Stealths: WOW, Haruki, and Boreas, along with the Extreme 40 Parabellum and the Fireflies Blue Nose and Twin Sharks. As the heaviest of the Stealths, we carry the lowest handicap—meaning that, on paper at least, we are the slowest boat.

The practice day when we all got to sail together for the first time was going very well until we came into Chalong Pier to drop Helen off for a meeting and ran aground, badly damaging one daggerboard. The repair could not be done in it in time, but being a round-the-world boat, we thankfully had a spare!

The trip north up to Ao Po was uneventful: everyone who wanted a berth got one, and the buses to and from Supalai Hotel and the party were even efficient.

Race Day 1 was sailed in moderate wind conditions. Crew work went really well, tactics were successful, and we crossed the line third, behind the Extreme 40 and Twin Sharks, and finished second on corrected time. As always, Blue Bay proved to be a great resort, a favourite on the route, and everyone enjoyed the party.

Race Day 2 was very windy (over 20 knots), with a reaching start down the west coast of Ko Yao Yai. Gusts poured off the hills, making it hairy at times, with wind over 25 knots and boat speeds exceeding 20 knots. It was often hard to tell whether to head up or down was the safer option when overpowered. While we cranked on the main and gritted our teeth towards the end of the reach, Haruki came rocketing past us on the outside and smoked us around the corner.  

This is followed by a long, punishing upwind leg to the finish, with WOW really stretching her legs and flying the windward hull. The foredeck crew complained that they did nothing and just got wet and sunburnt. All boats in the racing multihulls made it back in one piece, while the cruising class did have some casualties. We were fourth over the line behind the Extreme 40, Twin Sharks and Haruki. Once again, we finished second on corrected time.

Unfortunately for Haruki, they missed sailing between two islands that formed part of the course and were protested by Twin Sharks, resulting in their disqualification from the race. The party that evening was at Port Takola Marina, a fair distance away, so only about half the fleet attended, but it was a good venue and the live band was refreshing.

Waking up to Race Day 3 didn’t look promising for us at first. After the start, we came up on a reach but delayed hoisting the screecher too long, and then made the call to put up the small kite when the big spinnaker was needed. Boreas put us to shame by passing us at an impressive rate, and we fell well behind Twin Sharks and Haruki.

Navigating around the island in the southern part of the course was painful, watching them increase their lead. But we stuck to the chase, and on the final long upwind leg, however, David (our tactician), prompted by Helen, made an inspired call to head to the opposite side of the course for more pressure. To my amazement, as we approached the mark, we were only 200 metres behind Haruki, and we finished second on handicap yet again.

Great party at vacation village, but watching England lose Ireland in the Six Nations at Soi RCA was painful, especially as I was sitting next to an Irishman!

The forecast for Race Day 4, the final day, was dire, with very little wind expected. We started early (08:00) to allow time to return to Chalong. Although it looked like a 2-knot start, we had around 6 knots initially, which held for about an hour. Haruki and Twin Sharks took the more eastern route instead of coming across early and pulled well ahead of the rest of the fleet before the wind completely shut down, and Boreas and I were left parked. Haruki and Twin Shark, however, continued creeping towards the gate.

When the tide turned, we began drifting away from the mark, while Haruki still, very slowly, made progress. Eventually, even they started going backwards, and to our great relief, Simon abandoned the race. We then motored home over three hours, using the time to strip all the sails (thanks to the crew), as we were hauling out the following day.

The final party at Kan Eang 2 was, as ever, excellent. We finished second in class and won the Stealth Challenge. Thanks to Roger for adding this great trophy and the tray of meats, cheese and wine. The dancing was led by Yves, who delivered some impressive moves with the regatta girls.

A great regatta all round. Many thanks to Simon and his team—we’re already looking forward to next year.

Read more about WOW and David’s World Cruise.

James Baxter, Owner of Zephyrus

One week prior to the start of the regatta, I encountered some rocks and damaged my steering and one rudder.

I actually informed Simon James and my Australia-based crew that we would have to withdraw. All doom and gloom.

However, Roger and Zam, along with their team at Asia Catamarans, literally came to the rescue and organised and repaired the boat’s damage in just over 48 hours. Not only did their efforts allow us to take part, but our winning performance in the cruising division is a testament to the tweaks and fixes masterminded by Asia Catamarans over the last year to make the boat more resilient and responsive.

Liberty V Pictures

Thanks to the contributors

Special thanks to all the Stealth owners for providing the content for this latest news post, and also to Scott Murray of Sea Yachting Magazine for all the images.

Congratulations to Kay and Simon Owners and the organisers of the Bay Regatta.

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