Mandrake pulls the trophy out of the bag...
By AsianYachting MultiMedia
26 Nov 2011: Despite heavy rain there was 15 knots blowing down the middle of Bass Harbour. Two windward / leeward races for the racing classes and one passage race for the cruisers went off smoothly. Several classes were dependant on the final races to determine the overall results. Yesterday afternoon some weary crews from the overnight race in Class 2, 5, 6 and 7 ventured out in the strong breeze and completed a harbour race. It must be remembered that there is no drop race at this regatta, which means all race points will count when determining the overall class placing's.

For the whole regatta Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns Mills 40 EFG Bank Mandrake have been on top of their game and by clinching two handicap wins today, sealed the deal and take home the Raja Muda Cup on the small Mandrake"s first attempt. Stirred on by the Penang Langkawi race win, David Ross Ker 40 KukuKERchu scored two second places to lift them into third overall. Thailand's Tom Whitcraft's GP 42 Won Ma Rang and the Malaysian Armed Forces DK 47 Utarid skippered by Mohamad Razali traded third and fourth places which was enough for Utarid to hold onto second overall and the Navy very pleased with the new boat and crews performance only a month after launching.

After a close tussle with Baby Tonga at the beginning of the regatta Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid rammed home four wins in a row to once again take home to Darwin the Jugra Challenge Cup. Second overall for Team Strongbow The Goat's chartered Beneteau F53 Baby Tonga breaks the trifecta of victories that owner Antony Hastings put together but live to fight another day. Stuart Williamson's Oceanis 523 Resolution of Whitby and Riccardo Gastone's Swan 76 Silandra V have been up and down the order to finish in third and fourth respectively.

Two close wins by Sarab Jeet Singh's Sydney 40 Windsikher leap frogs them onto the top of the pointscore and win the Dato' Abdul Aziz Ismail Challenge Trophy. Two third places for Bill Bremner's Ker 32 Foxy Lady 5 drops them down the order to second overall after leading most the regatta. After a couple of misfortunes in the early races Ben Copley's Swan 42 Katsu came back strong but a little to late to improve on third overall.

Today Neil Ankcorn's Farr 1104 Mat Salleh continued on their winning ways after the Penang Langkawi race victory to take home the RSYC Cruising Challenge Trophy for the second time. Still shaken by the collision with Hi Fi, Jeff Harris' J 92S Nijinski was slightly of the pace and dropped to second overall. Two second places for John Kara's Dehler 34 Skybird comes a little to late in proceedings to make any improvement beyond third overall.

Extraordinary circumstances yesterday led to Class 5 leader Gavin Welman's Hallberg-Rassy Rascal being half way up the first leg at the start and record a Did Not Start. Today Japan's Yasuto Fuda Dehler 38 Fortissimo 8 Did Not Compete due to a damaged forestay. Rascal and Fortissimo have been fighting over the lead all regatta. First place for Rascal today gives them a one point advantage over Fortissimo and sail away with the title. Vast improvements by Simon Read's Aeolus XC with crew from the Langkawi Sailing School have elevated them to third overall.

Consistently scoring first and second places Barry Wickett's Kay Sira crewed by students from the Langkawi Sailing School have triumphed in Class 6 and take home the Eveline Trophy. A late charge today by Datuk Richard Curtis' Eveline skippered by Trevor Richards was not enough to take back the lead. The Malaysian Armed Forces Contessa 32 Musytari skippered by Lt Haniff could not fire up enough steam to defend the title and ended up in third place.

Rolf Heemskerk on the chartered Stealth 12.6 Sidewinder completed almost a whitewash in the Multihull Class. Hitting the startline at full speed and leaving the rest of the fleet in their wake to produce two wins and overall victory on their first attempt at multihull racing. After splitting the big red spinnaker yesterday David Liddell's Corsair C37 Miss Saigon fell from grace today and saw their chances rapidly diminish down the order. Despite being late for both starts Andrew Stransky's catamaran Fantasia stepped into the breach for second place. Miscalculating the number of laps left David Roberts Andaman Cabriolet Davinci skippered by Bruce Issell settled in third place.

Summary
Once again the challenging conditions up the Malaysian West coast has produced some trials and tribulations. Collisions and damaged equipment have seen an unprecedented number of withdrawals this year. This is the nature of the event that skippers and crew must be prepared to take when entering this event. The International Jury have been busy dealing with a record eight protests lodged. The racing has been exceptionally close in all classes especially in the ever increasing 40 - 45 foot range and in most classes the final result came down to the last couple of races. Strong wind returning for the Penang Langkawi leg is icing on the cake. On a lighter note the social scene has gone on uninterrupted and the new stopover at Straits Quay in Penang proved to be a hit amongst the sailors. The change of the guard in the organising committee have delivered and with a few tweaks in line for next year the regatta goes from strength to strength.

More info and results on the 22nd Raja Muda Selangor Int. Regatta at: http://www.rmsir.com

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