Guides · Fri 30 Oct 2026
Phuket King's Cup Regatta: a non-sailor's guide to regatta week
Asia's best known regatta week runs from Saturday 5 to Saturday 12 December 2026 off Kata Beach in Phuket. When the fleets start, where to watch from the shore, how the evenings work, and what to do on the quiet days, whether or not you have ever stepped on a yacht.
The short answer: The 38th Phuket King's Cup Regatta runs from Saturday 5 to Saturday 12 December 2026 at Kata Beach, on Phuket's west coast, and you do not need to sail to enjoy it. The racing itself happens from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 December, with the first start at 09:30 on weekdays and 09:00 on the final Saturday. Watch the starts and finishes from the beach in the morning, follow the fleet back in during the afternoon, and treat the evenings around the regatta headquarters at Beyond Kata Resort and Spa as the social heart of the week. Our calendar record is the Phuket King's Cup Regatta 2026.
What you are watching
The King's Cup is Asia's best known sailing regatta, held under royal patronage and organised by the Event Organising Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, with the Sports Authority of Thailand, the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Royal Thai Navy and the Province of Phuket. The Notice of Race, published on 15 September 2026, sets a maximum of twelve races per class across the week, on courses chosen around the weather: coastal courses, windward and leeward courses, trapezoid and triangle formats off Kata. The fleet is a mix, from the big IRC racing yachts at the front to Premier cruisers, Modern Classics, bareboat charter boats sailed by holiday crews, cruising classes, multihulls and small sportsboats. For a watcher, that variety is the point: there is always a start, a mark rounding or a finish worth following.
The shape of the week
Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December are measurement and registration days at Beyond Kata, with a practice session on Sunday at 13:00 and the skippers' briefing at 16:30. The beach fills with boats at anchor and crews preparing, and it is the easiest time to walk the shore and get your bearings. Saturday 5 December is also Thailand's National Day and Father's Day holiday, so the opening weekend is the busiest of the week on the roads and in the restaurants of Kata and Karon.
Monday 7 to Friday 11 December is the racing block, first warning signal at 09:30 each day. Friday 11 December is held as the reserve day, used if weather has cost the fleet a day earlier in the week. Saturday 12 December closes the regatta: first warning at 09:00, two races scheduled for the top IRC Zero class, no start after 14:00, and the awards ceremony at Beyond Kata at 15:00.
Watching it well, from the shore
Be there for the starts. Racing fleets are at their closest and most dramatic in the minutes around the start, when dozens of yachts cross and recross the same patch of water. From Kata Beach you are watching at a distance, so bring binoculars if you have them: sails, not hulls, are what you can read from the sand.
Follow the fleet home. The afternoon return, spinnakers up if the wind allows, is the prettiest part of the day for a non-sailor, and it lands naturally into the sunset. The daily prize giving runs in the evening, at 18:30 in the provisional programme, and the beachfront around the headquarters is lively every night of race week.
The parties have a door price. Access to the official social functions is restricted to registered crew and supporters, and the Notice of Race sets a social function entry fee of 1,200 baht per person per day for non-registered crew and supporters. If you want the official evenings rather than the beach bars, that fee is the route in.
Where to stay, and the days off
Stay in Kata or Karon and the whole week is a walk: the anchorage, the headquarters and the beach are one strip. Phuket Town and the island's other beaches make fine bases for a general holiday, but during regatta week the drive across to Kata every morning is the chore you will feel. Rooms near the beach go early, because the regatta opens Phuket's peak season.
Use the quieter days at the edges of the week for the island's classic day trips. A Phi Phi and Bamboo Island tour and a Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island tour both leave from Phuket and pair well with a reserve day or the Sunday before racing starts. Both are bookable here:
Book the Phi Phi day tripvia Klook · affiliate link
Book the Phang Nga Bay tourvia Klook · affiliate link
One last thing: courses and timings move with the weather, and the sailing instructions are due on the regatta site from 29 November 2026. Check kingscup.com in race week before you set an alarm for a start.
Sources: the 38th Phuket King's Cup Regatta Notice of Race for keelboats and multihulls, published by the organising authority on kingscup.com on 15 September 2026, for the dates, the organising bodies, the headquarters, the provisional programme, race timings and the social function fee. Checked 29 October 2026.
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