18th
Raja Muda Selangor
International Regatta 2007
AsianYachting
Race Report 5 & Summary
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The
marathon challenge is over...
Despite the light winds, two windward / leeward races were completed which
saw the successful conclusion to the 18th Raja Muda regatta. The week
long event (It seems like ages since we left Pt Klang) with three passage
races, four inshore races and an extensive party agenda to attend along
the way requires quite allot of stamina by the crews to get through. Not
everyone's cup of tea but certainly the crews know what they are in for
and have prepared themselves for the challenge.
Ever
since Ray Roberts steered his DK46 Quantum Racing across the
line to capture the Penang to Langkawi passage race the crew have been
on fire and have not put a foot wrong. Today was no exception, full of
confidence they went out and scored two wins out of two races and convincingly
became the 18th winner of the Raja Muda trophy. Not to be out done, Fred
Kinmonth / Nick Burns Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake tried as hard
as they could to put Quantum Racing behind them but as Fred Kinmonth
stated " We could not shake them off, they just kept on hanging in
there". For all the aggravation the defending champion Fortis
Mandrake finished with two second places which sees them retain second
overall. The out going tide and eagerness to get going saw two boats across
the start line early and despite loosing precious minutes returning to
restart the new factory owned DK 46 Janda Baik skippered
by Khairul Shahril managed third place and able to hold onto third overall.
First and third for DK46's what a wonderful result for the Malaysian boat
building company.
Despite Dr Ian Nicolson's Dubois 80 Intrigue winning the final
inshore race, second place for Hans Rahmann's 70ft Judel/Vrolijk Yasooda
was enough for them to win the overall IRC Class 2 title. Third place
for Neil Williamson's Oceanis 523 Resolution of Whitby
gives them third overall. Although the results don't show it the fully
appointed big heavyweights Yasooda and Intrigue staged
a ding dong battle over the last few races which was a delight to watch.
Yasooda scored two double scoring passage race wins and the Penang
inshore race to build up an insurmountable points lead during the early
races to put the class win out of reach of the other competitors. Dr Ian
Nicolson's Intrigue finished second overall and Neil Williamson's
Resolution of Whitby a valiant third overall.
Two
first places today for David Lindahl's Swan 42 La Samudra sealed
the fate for the IRC Class 3 racers. Dr Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian
Maid has been applying pressure all week but fourth and second place
today saw them slip up but still retain second place overall. After a
bad start to the regatta the
Royal Malaysian Navy's DK Farr 520 Zuhal with Khairuddin Mohamad
on the helm has steadily improved their placing's and finished up third
overall. With a little more crew training and implementing efficient spinnaker
handling drills they could go on to greater heights. A resounding crunch
echoed around Bass Harbour when John Blay's Walawala collided
with the start boat just as PRO Jerry Rollin announced on the radio "Please
don't hit my boat!" to win the "Unluckiest Sailors of the Regatta"
award.
Aquavit
IV the Elan 340 skippered by Bob Howison has steadily picked up four
wins during the regatta to stay on top of the leaderboard. Even seventh
place during race five did not deter them very much, as first and third
today put them clearly on top of the IRC Class 4 podium. Several boats
have been knocking on the door putting in good performances but after
handicaps are applied somehow Aquavit IV always came out on top.
Vincent Chan's Titan 36 Mata Hari started off poorly but climbed
up the order very quickly and pushed aside some title contenders to end
up second overall. Gerry Firth's brand new Beneteau First 34.7 Skandia
dipped down in the middle races but rebounded with two second places today
to leapfrog Keith Dunn's Mountgay 30 Lunchcutter II into third
overall.
Discovering
a last minute electrical fire onboard Simon Piff's Rainbow Dream
in Penang may have forced them to retire from Race 5 but did not deter
them from making their way to Langkawi and winning the final inshore race.
Gavin Welman's Hallberg Rassy 53 Rascal has proceeded on undeterred
by other boats misfortunes to claim second place today which accumulatively
gives them the lowest points and the overall Non-IRC Class 5 title. Last
minute redress for Peter Jones Bashford Howison 41 Jenny III
secures them second overall but sixth place in the race to Langkawi may
have been their downfall. Jon & Sandra Stonham's Robert Perry 47 Tui
Tai has consistently been up with the leaders but sixth place in
race 2 has kept them down in third overall.
Aussie
Don McGrath's Oram 44 Cat Out of the Bag scored their fourth
victory at the shortened finish line and gone on to handsomely win the
overall Non IRC Class 6 by a country mile. Dato' Richard Curtis's Gaff
Rigged Cutter Eveline had a miserable last race but still managed
to finish second overall in front of his old foe Simon Morris's Sirius
1935 that has had a up and down regatta. John Mitchell's Crowther
Cat 35 Merpati Putih rounds out the four boat class with a second
place on the last race and fourth overall.
Summary
Quite a few new things are being tried throughout the regatta in an effort
to tweak up the event. One very important test is to do away with the
drop race so the boat that consistently does well over the full race program,
will win the event. The passage races are scored double points for many
years now but working with the low point scoring system has produced some
discrepancies in the past when dropping these races. Most skippers seemed
to agree and the option to do away with the drop race seems to be accepted
by most competitors as a fair and equitable solution. Evaluating the double
points scoring system for the passage races while producing these race
reports sees a big separation of points in a short period of time that
can be difficult to recover from when returning to the single point inshore
races. One suggestion by the winning skipper instead of multiplying by
two is use a factor of 1.5 which will still carry the importance of the
passage races but not dramatically spiral the point score out reach for
the remaining races. All comments and grievances are welcome which the
organising committee will study over the coming months. Other than that
everyone seems to have had a good time and as the late night music can
still be heard and the final prize giving party is still raging I'm off
to join in the fun.
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As the sea breeze arrived early, all classes got off to a good start as
the skippers knew only to well, that this was their last opportunity at
the double scoring passage races to get some points separation from their
closest rivals or extend their lead beyond reach. All things were going
smoothly until a storm squall descended midway along the fleet. A few
good wind gusts arrived with the storm followed by a complete lull in
proceedings after the rain saw fortunes won and lost. The switch over
to the land breeze allowed the bigger boats to accelerate away and the
back markers to catch up or sail around the becalmed boats. This intervention
by nature shook up the results some what and had the effect of drawing
the points separation closer together. Overall results now hinge on the
final windward/leeward and inshore races to be held in Langkawi on Saturday.
After
6 hours and 42 minutes of racing Frank Pong's Reichel-Pugh 75 Jelik crossed
the finish line in record time. Caught up in fishing nets during earlier
passage races Ray Roberts managed to keep his DK46 Quantum Racing
out of trouble this time and scored a handicap win in a nick of time which
takes them to the top of the overall standings. Razali Mansor skippering
the Royal Malaysian Navy DK Farr 520 Zuhrah stayed on
the pace to score second place by less than a minute from the new factory
owned DK 46 Janda Baik skippered by Khairul Shahril
in third. Forth place for Fred Kinmonth / Nick Burns Mills 51 Fortis
Mandrake sees them tumble down to second overall and needing a big
performance on the final harbour races to defend the title.
The
Royal Malaysian Navy's other DK Farr 520 Zuhal with Khairuddin
Mohamad on the helm continued to surprise the pundits to record a second
class win at the regatta and lift them to third overall in the IRC Class
3 standings. Second place for Dr
Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid narrows the gap on the
leader down to two points. Third place for David Lindahl's Swan 42 La
Samudra keeps them at the top of the leaderboard but pressure is
being exerted from all sides.
The
results in IRC Class 4 show that these yachts were heavily affected by
the rain storm and resultant changes in weather conditions. John Kara's
Dehler 34 Skybird came from nowhere to score a resounding victory.
Dr Basil Diethelm's Swan 44 Sarabande clawed its way into second
place by nine seconds from Neil Ankcorn's Farr 1104 and defending champion
Mat Salleh not faring so well this year to finally take third
place on the podium. Aquavit IV the Elan 340 skippered by Bob
Howison finished back down in seventh place, adding 14 points onto their
score but three wins and one second place keeps them at the top of the
class, five points in front of Vincent Chan's second placed Titan 36 Mata
Hari going into the final races.
Provisionally
in Non IRC Class 5 Gavin Welman's Hallberg Rassy 53 Rascal has
won race 5 but is subject to protest from Panacea skippered by
Dave Moxey for a alleged start line infringement. Jon & Sandra Stonham's
Robert Perry 47 Tui Tai has consistently been up with the leaders
to secure second place. Jay Jarvis's Ben Lexcen Cat Rigged Ketch Blue
Jay finally appeared on the podium with third place. Depending how
the protest hearing goes provisionally Rascal leads Peter Jones
Bashford Howison 41 Jenny III by one point in the overall pointscore
for the class title.
Although
Aussie Don McGrath's Oram 44 Cat Out of the Bag finished over
six hours in front of the next boat the adjustment in handicap by Dave
the Brave sees them drop down to second place. Dato' Richard Curtis's
Gaff Rigged Cutter Eveline managed to finish the race without
recording any motoring hours to score a resounding victory and the celebrations
are likely to go on for days. John Mitchell's Crowther Cat 35 Merpati
Putih all the way from Indonesia slotted into third place. Out
of the Bag leads in the overall class pointscore but the mismatch
of boats is like comparing apples with oranges.
Inshore
program gets underway
Heavy cloud cover during the morning slows the land heating that generates
the sea breeze. Consequently the sailors were left to drift around on
a glassy sea hoping that something would majestically fill in and get
the inshore part of the Raja Muda program underway. Sounds familiar as
I recall back to past years. After patiently waiting for 2 1/2 hours a
westerly breeze sprung up and quickly built to 12 - 15 knots allowing
the race committee to fire away the starts and complete race three in
under an hour. Just as race four got underway the breeze dropped and the
race shortened for all IRC racing classes to complete the Penang inshore
program.
IRC
Class 2 had only one harbour race scheduled for the premier cruisers.
Dr Ian Nicolson had Rolf Heemskerk come on board and take the helm which
fired up his old sailing buddies on the Dubois 80 Intrigue to
set a blistering pace around the course. Both Intrigue and Hans
Rahmann's 70ft Judel/Vrolijk Yasooda came off the start line
together and began match racing, going boat for boat around the entire
course. Yasooda has won both races so far but her 33 second advantage
at the finish was just not enough to beat the charging Intrigue
and had to settle on second place this time. Neil Williamson's Oceanis
523 Resolution of Whitby got caught up when the wind faded
away and scored third place as the time limit ran out for the remaining
boats.
David
Lindahl's Swan 42 La Samudra just keeps bobbing up and taking
podium places, has excelled with a race 3 win and third in race 4 to hold
a slender lead at the top of the overall IRC Class 3 pointscore. Dr Jon
Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid keeps improving with age
and two second places today keeps them pecking away at the leaders. Geoff
Hill's Lyons
49 Strewth lost allot of time when the headsail ripped during
race 3 but had done enough in the earlier stages to hang onto third spot.
The Royal Malaysian
Navy's DK Farr 520 Zuhal with Khairuddin Mohamad on the helm
pulled one out of the bag to record their first ever race win at the Raja
Muda on race 4.
The
close starts saw several boats over the line early and those that did
not return were scored OCS. Vincent Chan's crew on the Titan 36 Mata
Hari got it right from the start of race 3 to hold a handy lead by
the windward mark. Although they looked destined to win the race, surprisingly
only three minutes seperated them from the distant pack to finish second
on handicap by 37 seconds. Mata Hari's crew did not lay down
and die, they stayed on the pace and went onto convincingly win race four.
The race winning Elan 340 Aquavit IV skippered by Bob Howison
miraculously came back to take race 3 and third place in race 4 may have
broken their winning streak but keeps them at the top of the IRC Class
4 leader board. Dr Basil Diethelm asked to drop his Swan 44 Sarabande
down a class and start afresh after being clearly outclassed on the two
passage races. This move paid dividends straight away with third place
in race 3 and keeps Chas from Tas from burning our ears. Keith Dunn's
premature start dropped his Mountgay 30 Lunchcutter II down to
sixth place on race 3 but rebounded to be back amongst the leaders with
second place in race 4.
Non IRC Class 5 saw Simon Piff's Lavranos 34 Rainbow Dream come
to the fore by taking maximum advantage of the weather conditions. Although
Peter Jones Bashford Howison 41 Jenny III was miles in front
they mistakenly tried to finish at the start line. When they realized
their mistake they lost precious time retracing their steps to finish
properly and had to settle for second place by less than two minutes.
Jon & Sandra Stonham's Robert Perry 47 Tui Tai was powered
up from the start as they enjoy the brisker conditions which slotted them
into third place in the only race scheduled today.
The
battle of the two grand old ladies has been disrupted by reclassifying
the Non IRC Class 6 and including two catamarans with two classic monohulls.
Talk about a real mismatch or throwing a cat amongst the pigeons. Never
the less as Aussie Don McGrath's Oram 44 Cat Out of the Bag roared
off into the distance Simon Morris's Sirius 1935 with all sails
set and Dato' Richard Curtis's Gaff Rigged Cutter Eveline where
staging a closely contested private battle of their own. What a magnificent
sight and with the fresh breeze these heavyweights can actually get moving
along quite quickly. After handicaps are applied the cat Out of the
Bag scored another win by thirty minutes from the dedicated classic
boat sailors on Sirius 1935. Dato' Richard Curtis had Eveline
fully wound up but may not have the horsepower to match Sirius 1935
which can fly up to six working sails at any one time.
Trials
and tribulations as race 2 comes to an end...
Despite the early morning downpour and heavy cloud cover, an 8 to 12 knot
North Westly breeze greeted the sailors at the Pangkor Island start line
and PRO Jerry Rollin promptly sent them on their way to Penang.
Close hauled to start
with and ever so gently easing around to a fine reach, had crews trimming
the sails to squeeze every ounce of speed out of the boat on the 65nm
two sail, straight line drag race. Last nights relaxed prize giving party
at the Seaview Resort is a perfect example of why the Raja Muda Regatta
is so popular amongst a core group of sailors that return each year. We
are blessed with some of the highest ranked sailing officials and world
renown race boat campaigners under the same roof. Dressed casually and
away from their boardrooms and offices they are very approachable while
enjoying crew camaraderie, friendly conversations with other competitors
and even off the cuff comments to the media. At one table Bryan Willis
the chairman of the 32nd America's Cup Jury was entertaining the troops
about the last event and espousing on why he has not been invited back
next time. At another table Frank Pong and Ray Roberts are discussing
the race 1 start and jokingly accusing each other of getting in the way.
Scattered around the place are various International legends of sailing
including Chas from Tas, Aussie Zappa, Steve McConaghy, Grimesy, Wasa
Downes, Geoff Hill and a splattering of respected top surgeons, Hong Kong
lawyers and businessman that are always ready to give their opinions on
how to solve the worlds problems.
Half
way up the track the breeze increased but came around on the nose forcing
the boats on a long tack towards the coast then short tacking up the Kra
Bank to avoid the incoming tidal current. Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum
Racing were determined to make up for the 3rd place in race 1 and
hit the start line first, then tacked away early to get a jump on the
others within the first few miles of racing. Hot on their weather hip
was Fred Kinmonth / Nick Burns jointly owned Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake.
Although Frank Pong's Reichel-Pugh 75 Jelik was leading the racing
class they seemed a little of the pace and did not appear to have their
time on the smaller boats hot on his wake. After negotiating a minefield
of fishing nets and changing weather conditions including a tropical downpour
it was Frank Pong's Jelik that emerged out of the darkness to
take line honours after 11 hours and four minutes of racing. Not to be
outdone Fred Kinmonth piloted the Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake across
the line less than six minutes latter to take handicap honours and go
one step further in defending the title they so rightfully earned last
year. One hour after Jelik finished the dueling DK 46's crossed
the line with Ray Roberts Quantum Racing ten minutes in front
of the factory owned DK 46 Janda Baik skippered
by Khairul Shahril and his band of flying dutchmen. They had done enough
to claim second and third places respectively and stay at the top of the
order after 2 double pointscoring races have been completed.
Hans
Rahmann saw a gap open between the start boat and the Columbia 50 Alis,
then stuck the bow of his 70ft Judel/Vrolijk Yasooda into it
and pulled off one of the best starts of the regatta so far. All the skippers
were keen to get going so allot of jockeying around for a good start was
possible in the fresh breeze, which resulted in some daring and close
starts being the order of the day. Although the 70ft Yasooda
went onto claim line honours in Class 2 it was Neil Williamson's much
smaller Oceanis 523 Resolution of Whitby with the Montpelier
team aboard that piped them for handicap honours. Dr Ian Nicolson and
all his old sailing buddies on the Dubois 80 Intrigue are having
a great time keeping everyone honest despite the light breeze to slot
into third place.
The
yachts that manage to get a good start and carry on concentrating on boat
speed till the end are generally running off with the podium places. That
is if you are lucky not to get tangled in the many fishing nets that are
randomly set on the favoured Kra Bank side of the course. The Royal Malaysian
Navy's training DK Farr 520 Zuhal with Khairuddin Mohamad on
the helm took line honours in Class 3 but ended up in 6th place after
handicaps are applied. John Blay's Beneteau
First 44.7 Walawala
from Hong Kong claimed the handicap honours just in front of Geoff Hill's
Lyons 49 Strewth
with some of last years victorious Sydney - Hobart crew
onboard. Race 1 winner David
Lindahl's Swan 42 La Samudra seemed
slightly of the pace and had to settle on third place. Dr Jon Wardill's Cassidy
55 Australian Maid was well up with the leading racing class
boats until they found a fishing net and spent over 70 minutes getting
untangled which cost them a definite podium place.
In
Class 4 the Elan 340 Aquavit IV skippered by Bob Howison continued
on their winning ways this time with a first and fastest by the proverbial
mile. One and a half hours latter RSYC Vice Commodore Vincent Chan's Titan
36 Mata Hari crossed the finish line for second place and the
only boat to come anywhere close to Aquavit IV. A further 10
minutes down the track Keith Dunn's Mountgay 30 Lunchcutter II stayed
in touch but having a similar handicap as Mata Hari had to settle
on third place.
Aussie
Don McGrath's Oram 44 Cat Out of the Bag blitzed the Non IRC
Class 6 to hold two out of two first and fastest's. I think Aussie handicapper
Dave the Brave will have to give his bag of bones a good shake up before
applying adjustments for race 3. After disappointingly running aground
in race 1 Simon Morris's Sirius 1935 rebounded with second place
to put them back in the running for overall honours. After nearly 15 hours
of motoring the RSYC Commodore Dato' Richard Curtis's Gaff Rigged Cutter
Eveline slipped into third place despite the New Straits Times
reporting that they are the envy of all the sailors and usually win the
event hands down.
A
good test of patience... 
Boat
speed is very important in a strait line drag race, so trimming sails
and good helming takes over as priority number one. To everyone's surprise
Razali Mansor skippering the Royal Malaysian Navy DK Farr 520 Zuhrah
nailed the start line and was closely followed by the brand new factory
owned DK 46 Janda Baik skippered by Khairul Shahril.
Unusual for Ray Roberts Quantum Racing crew to be at the back
of the fleet but they may have been suffering from overindulgence at the
previous nights welcoming dinner. After six hours of racing the seabreeze
gradually petered out and the boats waited for the evening land breeze
to materialize. Unfortunately a long wait was to follow and many boats
found there own private parking lots and individual zephyrs of wind to
move them along. No rain was recorded and a clear starry night had a cooling
effect despite the lack of wind.
Frank
Pong's Reichel-Pugh 75 Jelik were not so lucky in the wind lottery
and were beaten across the line by the Fred Kinmonth / Nick Burns smaller
Mills 51 and defending champion Fortis Mandrake. After what could
only be described as a frustrating 15 to 16 hours of racing it was the
new factory owned DK 46 Janda Baik skippered by
Khairul Shahril with a scratch Dutch, Swedish and Malaysian crew that
won the first race out of the box. Fred Kinmonth / Nick Burns Mills 51
Fortis Mandrake claimed second spot and Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum
Racing third place to make it a small boat benefit on race one.
Most
the boats were delayed and only started to finish at dawn. Those that
persisted in sailing began to stream in as the day wore on, so the usually
raucous Seaview Resort breakfast consisted of the committee and jury only
to be interrupted by the occasional colorful hornbill flying in to observe
the yearly ritual. At 70ft Hans Rahmann's Judel/Vrolijk Yasooda
managed to finish early with the last of the morning land breeze to claim
first and fastest in IRC 2. Although Neil Williamson's Oceanis 523
Resolution of Whitby had to wait for the afternoon sea breeze
to fill in, they slotted into second place and relegated Dr Ian Nicolson's
magnificent Dubois 80 Intrigue down to third place.
David
Lindahl's Swan 42 La Samudra kept their race winning record going
by scoring an IRC Class 3 win by a healthy margin over Dr Jon Wardill's Cassidy
55 Australian Maid competing here for the fourteenth time. As
the race drags on the elapsed time increases and the handicap margins
widen to give the smaller handicap boats a chance to improve their standings.
After twenty one hours of racing Andrew Findlay's Beneteau First 45f5
Impiana finished a mere forty five seconds in front of La
Samudra across the line but got bumped down to third overall.
The
closely matched IRC Class 4 saw the winning trio finish within an hour
of each other. Bob Howison's crew on the Elan 340 Aquavit IV
managed to keep the boat moving throughout the night and morning to finish
in a respectable time, thereby eclipsing the leaders and taking the Race
1 handicap honours. Gerry Firth's brand new Beneteau First 34.7 Skandia
stayed on the pace to claim second place from Keith Dunn's Mountgay 30
Lunchcutter II that showed them the way and benefited from some
new reaching sails especially purchased for this event.
The
battle of the Hot Water boats (Non IRC Class 5 & 6) boils down to
the number of engine hours each skipper submits as being an honest record
of their motoring time. These are then multiplied by a factor then added
to the elapsed time. Some boats have added on 10 to 14 hours to their
time. Peter Jones on the Bashford Howison 41 Jenny III needed
only two hours of motoring and by finishing at a respectable hour in the
morning earned them a Class 5 victory. Jon & Sandra Stonham's Robert
Perry 47 Tui Tai with all the family onboard weighed in with
second place. The RSYC Sailing Academy's Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36.2 Panacea skippered
by Dave Moxey got in just before the official cut-off time to record a
well deserved third place.
The grounding of Simon
Morris's Sirius 1935 left the door wide open for RSYC Commodore
Dato' Richard Curtis's Shanghai Gaff Rigged Cutter Eveline to
do the honours in Class 6, formerly the Classic Class. After a few no
shows and some further deliberations by the committee Class 5 & 6
is being split into a more even contest based on the accumulated Race
1 finish and motoring hours. The two catamarans now join in with the grand
old ladies. Aussie Don McGrath's Oram 44 Cat Out of the Bag now
becomes the winner in front of Eveline and John Mitchell's Crowther
Cat 35 Merpati Putih from Indonesia slots in third place.
Facing
up to the challenge...
The
increase of entries allows the classification of yachts to be tweaked
a little. Four IRC classes divides the racing fleet in an effort to have
boats of similar size and speed racing against each other. Double point
scoring for the passage races and for the first time competitors will
not be able to drop a race or their worst score, so a good performance
will be required for all the races.
Amongst the Racing Class entrants is Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns defending
champion Fortis Mandrake. However they won't have it all their
own way as Frank Pong's Reichel-Pugh 75 Jelik has been on fire
recently, winning the China Coast Regatta and Ray Roberts DK 46 Quantum
Racing claimed the honours at the inaugural China Cup. Adam Ng's
Judel/Vrolijk 52 Microlab Moonlight Shadow is the first time
an entry has come from mainland China and is expected to be amongst the
leaders. Two Malaysian boats form a strong local contingent led by the
Royal Malaysian Navy DK Farr 520 Zuhrah and Khairul Shahril
skippering the brand new factory owned DK 46 Janda Baik.
IRC
Class 3 is mainly for the over 40ft cruiser / racers that don't quite
fit into the premier cruising class. Over the years David Lindahl's Swan
42 La Samudra, Geoff Hill's Lyons 49 Strewth, Andrew
Findlay's Beneteau First 45f5 Impiana and Dr Jon Wardill's Cassidy
55 Australian Maid have all had class wins and will be an interesting
match up this time around. Welcome newcomers Dr Basil Diethelm's Swan
44 Sarabande, John Blay's Beneteau First 44.7 Walawala and
the Royal Malaysian Navy's DK - Farr 520 Zuhal into the fold
and you stir up a potpourri of possible race winners.
With
twelve entrants the Non-IRC Class 5 is the biggest and contains an impressive
line-up of odds and sods that will race under chief measurer Dave Richards
arbitrary handicap system. Gavin Welman's Hallberg Rassy 53 Rascal
from New Zealand is the biggest, Jay Jarvis's Ben Lexcen Cat Rigged Ketch Blue
Jay has won in Langkawi before, Peter Jones bringing the Bashford
Howison 41 Jenny III out of retirement, Jon & Sandra Stonham's
Robert Perry 47 Tui Tai and cruising home since leaving Hong
Kong two years ago, the RSYC Sailing Academy's Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36.2 Panacea skippered
by Dave Moxey and Simon Piff's Lavranos 34 Rainbow Dream are
examples of the diversity in this class. Throw in two multihull's - John
Mitchell's Crowther Cat 35 Merpati Putih from Indonesia and Aussie
Don McGrath's Oram 44 Cat Out of the Bag will keep handy Dave
on his toes throughout the event.