7th Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2009
AY Race Report 2

More champagne sailing conditions
Once again the fresh conditions provided close and exciting racing. The more conservative sailors reefed the mainsail or carried small headsail's. The racing class were fully powered up and launched themselves into two windward / leeward races that would either confirm they are in the running or off the pace. The courses were set to seaward of the island group and the one meter swell had the boats easily up and planning on the downwind legs. Once again some breakages forced some of yesterdays winners to retire which will hamper there progress up the leaderboard.

Frank Pong's R/P 75 Jelik kicked up there heels in the fresh conditions and managed to hold there time on the hungry chasing pack to record two first and fastest's plus go directly to the top of the leaderboard. Missing out by only a few seconds Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi-Fi in the hands of Kevin Costin (Kossie) have put in a great performance to score two second places today but would desperately like to score a win before the boss comes on Friday. Two third places for Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing has them handing the overall lead to Jelik but as Jelik, Quantum Racing and Hi-Fi are presently tied on nine points each, the series is still wide open for the taking.

Two first places for Stuart Williamson's Beneteau 34.7 Skandia Endeavour of Whitby has them taking a commanding five point lead in the overall pointscore. Niels Degenkolw IOR 3/4 Ton Phoenix and Vincent Chan's Titan 36 Mata Hari traded second places to be 2nd and 3rd respectively in the overall stakes. After yesterdays results Anthony Hastings Beneteau 53 Baby Tonga 99 Degrees East were doing well but hydraulic rigging failure forced them to retire from today's racing and may put an end to there podium chances this year. Third place in Race 3 for Helmut Schutte's brand new Beneteau 45 Aquavit V has lifted there spirits as they grapple with fine tuning the new boat.

After conducting some running repairs Mike Van Zyl's 24ft Jandi skippered by James Hardie was back out in force to score two handicap wins and elevate themselves to the top of the IRC 1 class pointscore. Jan Matthews Sunsail 35 and Alan Rimington's 32ft Atlantis Star from the Penang Swimming Club traded 2nd and 3rd places today to hold the respective places overall.

In the combined Sportsboat class Gaetan Verhegee's Longtze 2 - Exocet added another win to there tally, then dropped to sixth place in Race 4 but still hold a slender one point lead in the overall stakes. Zijie Christopher Lim's Singapore Management University SMU Team stepped up the pace, with second and first places to put themselves back into contention. The Royal Malaysian Navy Platu 25 Navy 1 skippered by Mohd Masyuri Rahmat has consistently scored podium places and today's third, second score line has them in second overall only one point adrift of the leaders. An incident between two Longtze yachts saw one retire and is presently in the hands of the International Jury to make a ruling. Gaetan Verhegee's Longtze 2 - Exocet leads the individual Longtze Class and Mohd Masyuri Rahmat's Navy 1 leads the Platu 25 Class.

Gavin Welman's Hallberg Rassy 53 Rascal came to the fore today with a resounding win in the Club Cruising Class. Second place for Christopher Kingsley-Smith 41ft Amandla Star has them scaling the top of the leaderboard. Third place for Kevan Perrins Oyster 435 Rusalka is an improvement despite making it known to the whole fleet that they are lodging a protest against the Race Committee about the unfair handicaps being used. After winning the two opening races Keith Garry's 41ft BeauX Esprits ably skippered by Mia Gillow had to retire with damage which relegated them down to third overall for the time being. Although a little up and down so far Des Kearns 46ft Bad Habits clings onto second overall. Never a dull moment in this class.

In the Multihull class Bob Brindley's Whiteheavan 11.8 Xcatriot goes from strength to strength by adding second and first places to yesterdays two wins creating an almost insurmountable lead in a three boat fleet. Race 3 win and second in Race 4 for Bill Webb's 41ft Out of the Bag has them taking second overall in front of Tim Milner's 33ft Seekronghuk that has struggled with gear failure.

For the first time a race around the southern islands is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday and should prove to be an interesting inclusion to the event.

Sailor Chick of the Regatta competition
Spotted on Zijie Christopher Lim's Platu SMU are a couple of leggy students that caught our photographers eye and entered the foredeck hand into the Sailor Chick of the regatta competition. The prize for the overall winner is a free pair of AY Gloves which will be announced after the event when the Photo Gallery is posted.

More RLIR 2009 news and results can be found at: http://www.langkawiregatta.com

Goto RLIR09 Photo Gallery Here...

Online RLIR 09 - AY Race Reports with photos can be accessed from:
Race Report 5 & Summary: http://asianyachting.com/news/RLIR09/5.htm
Race Report 4: http://asianyachting.com/news/RLIR09/4.htm
Race Report 3: http://asianyachting.com/news/RLIR09/3.htm
Race Report 1: http://asianyachting.com/news/RLIR09/1.htm
Pre-Race Report: http://asianyachting.com/news/RLIR09/0.htm

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