60nm drag race to Langkawi

20:11:09 Despite the lack of wind for the Penang Harbour races, the North Easterly tradewinds returned for the passage race to Langkawi. Proceedings got underway in 6 to 8 knots which quickly built to 15 knots by the time the leading yachts passed the outer limits to Penang and above 20 knots before they reached Pulau Payer a little over half way to Langkawi. As the distance is approximately 60 nautical miles, steering 310 degrees on the compass and with the breeze clocking around from North to Nor Nor East, the course turned into a 60nm straight line, close reaching, drag race where sheer boat speed and sail selection would play a pivotal role in determining the class winners.

Henry Kaye predicted before the regatta (See Multihull Revival) that his crew on the Seacart 30 Thor will be "putting down the hammer “ and "In the right conditions could give Frank Pong's 75ft monohull Boracay Jelik III a run for their money to Langkawi". Despite going on a wide arc, out to the horizon and back they lived up to their promise and finished 10 minutes in front of Frank's Boracay Jelik III but as the Multihull's started 40 minutes before the Racing Class they fell short by 30 minutes of depriving Boracay Jelik III from the fastest elapsed time and overall line honours.

The Racing Class handicap honours is turning into a 2 boat battle between Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi Fi and Ray Roberts TP 52 Evolution Racing. On the first two passage races Hi Fi managed to lead Evolution Racing over the line and won both on handicap with Evolution Racing taking two second places. After going up and down through the gears Evolution Racing finally found fast forward to pull away from Hi Fi and held onto the lead to the finish line. When handicaps are applied Neil Pryde's Hi Fi comes out on top again by 3 minutes but Ray Roberts was so happy beating them over the line and reaching some target speeds that he even shouted the whole crew dinner at the yacht club. Geoff Hill's TP52 Strewth slotted into third place in front of the other fifty footers that seem to be optimised to the IRC rating rule while the others are going for boat speed in favour of a lower handicap. This may change when the serious windward/leeward courses enter the equation in the remaining races.

Antony Hastings Beneteau 53 Baby Tonga have steadily worked their way up the table on the passage races with a 3, 2, 1 scoreline and keep themselves in the running to defend the Premier Cruising Class title they won last year. Royal Selangor Yacht Club Commodore and Regatta Chairman Dato’ Alex Nah's Hunter 49 Virgo steps up to the plate with second place. Weighing in at 50 plus tons, Dr Ian Nicolson's Dubois 80 Intrigue fully wound up is like a moving locomotive and third place moves them up into second overall at the end of the passage race program.

The longer waterline length of Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid allows them to excel on close reaching legs which adds another win to their tally and secures the overall lead in the IRC 3 class. Robert Van Paridon's Beneteau 44.7 Tantrum rose to the occasion by taking second place. After a slow start to the regatta Bob Howison's L'Autre Femme rebounds with a healthy third place and revive some confidence in the depleted crew.

Scoring another first and fastest David Ross' new Kerr 32 Kukukerchu has gone ahead in leaps and bounds to be sitting on top of the IRC 4 pointscore. Stuart Williamson's Beneteau 34.7 Skandia EOW are doing their damndest to keep Ross at bay and another second place has them tied on points with Kukukerchu going in to the short harbour race program. Third place for Vincent Chan's Titan 36 AC Law Mata Hari has them steadily improving on the overall pointscore after a slow start to the regatta.

This year the Langkawi passage race became the debut race for the newly revived Multihull Class. Despite Henry Kaye's Seacart 30 Thor vying for overall line honours their gamble on sails and course selection has left them high and dry down in fourth place. The Vietnam built Corsair 37's came to the fore on handicap. Richard Eyre's Zhuka triumphed and was followed closely by David Liddell's Miss Saigon. Grenville Fordham's Phuket Raceweek winning Andaman Cabriolet Niña had to settle on third place and are now looking forward to the bay races.

In the non-IRC Cruising Class 5 Rod Heikell's Skylax made it three wins in a row to take a commanding lead in the overall stakes. There was enough wind for everyone to sail the entire way and second place for David Mellefont's Wind Quest meant a lot to them. Singapore's Leslie Fung on Todak 2 slipped into third place to shore up 2nd overall they presently hold onto.

In Class 6 Simon Morris' Aussie classic Sirius 1935 claimed first place to bump themselves up the leaderboard. Barry Wickett's Kay Sira has been solid all regatta and posting their second 2nd place gives them confidence to continue. Dato Richard Curtis 100 year old classic Eveline finally appears on the scoresheet in third place and will have to pray for a miracle to win the class this year.

As we piece this Race Report together all the classes are out racing the postponed harbour Races 3 & 4. More to come on that latter.

More info on the 20th Raja Muda Selangor Int. Regatta at: http://www.rmsir.com

Goto AY Race Report 6 & Summary
AY Race Report 5
AY Race Report 3
AY Race Report 2
AY Race Report 1
AY Pre-Regatta Report
Multihull Revival at 20th RMSIR 09

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