The Platu 25 Story followed by Coronation Cup Results from 1996.
A group of Thai businessmen formed the company known as Phatra Marine Products Company Limited. They wanted to build a Marina in Hua Hin on the West Coast of the Gulf of Thailand and run a fleet of One Design boats.
With connections to Bruce Farr, they asked the famous designer to create a one design yacht especially suited to the waters in the Gulf of Thailand. The boat being small but special was named after a small fish which is a delicacy here in Thailand. ‘Pla’ is Thai for fish and ‘Tu’ is the type of fish.
Small but special, the Platu 25 was born and Mcdell Marine of New Zealand were chosen for the build. On 19th March 1995 24 Platus arrived in Thailand and in 1996 the first Platu 25 One DesignRegatta known as the Coronation Cup was held off the coast of Hua Hin. This was a result of the owners wanting to link their yacht to THE KING of Thailand who was a very keen yachtsman and Olympic medal winner.
Unfortunately in 1997 there was a financial crash in Thailand and development of the Marina was stopped. This also crashed the dream of the businessmen and to this day the Marina with its One Design fleet has never been completed.
Beneteau saw and liked the Platu and bought the rights to build it in Europe. They had to make some small modifications to the original boats including a 40 mm slimming of the deck to accommodate the road transport rules of most European countries. In 2007 the class was registered with ISAF and a set of international class rules was produced. Thailand produced an ‘amendment to International class rules’ to accommodate the minor differences between the original Mcdell and the Beneteau Platus.
The specific design of the Platu and it’s need for a well organized crew of 5 is recognized by many professional crews who use the boat to hone their skills.
The design also allows inexperienced crews to learn to sail in safety, while requiring precise skills to sail the boat fast.