Strong Winds, Choppy Seas and a Collision

Langkawi, 5 March 2005 – Strong winds, choppy seas and a collision at the start were the highlights of the BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta which entered its third day yesterday. It was smooth sailing for most of the yachts though.

As the siren for the start of the combined race for the Club, Live Aboard and Classic classes was sounded, choppy seas made it difficult for the boats to manoeuvre the start line resulting in Live Aboard class boat Regolarita II slamming into Fistral.

Fistral had a huge hole in its side and retired while Regolarita called it a day after its bow was damaged.

With the announcement by sponsor BMW that the winner of the racing class would see the crew heading for Valencia, Spain to watch the America’s Cup, Yo put up another credible performance bagging the two races for the day, leaving it to shoo in the championship today as a top three finish will be enough for Peter Ahern and his crew to receive the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy and a trip to sunny Spain.

Sonnenkoenig came second in the racing class in both races followed by Ulumulu.

Lady M crossed the finish line in the Classic class with Isobar second and Trevor Richards skippered Eveline, which had a motley crew comprising K.P. Waran. Mazlan Sharif and Fauzi Mohamed, third.

In the Premier Cruising category, La Samudra came in first, while in the IRC1 category, it was Abraxas which took the line honours.

In the Sportsboat class, Securicor Somtam Express managed to outmanoeuvre KDP II and KDPII from the Royal Malaysian Navy.

In the multihull cruising division, Joan Foo Mahoney skippered Sedna had to settle for second place after a hard-fought battle with Kilo with Christopher Sieber at the helm. Datuk Ayahudin Abdul Rahman’s Chantique romped home victors in the Club Race followed by Juita which had Royal Selangor Yacht Club commodore Abdul Aziz Kadir behind the wheel and Paul Scholten’s Pinocchio taking third spot.

Sunshine Forever, Sea Fever and Blue Jay took the top three places in the Live Aboard category, which is limited to boats cruising around the world with the crew living on board.

Today’s final races are expected to experience stronger winds as the organisers have decided to set a harbour course around the islands compared to the open sea during the first three days.