Royal Langkawi International Regatta

Langkawi, 3 March 2005 – At most top class events, the early winners are usually the most prepared and aim to build on their success, or as they say in the classics “the rich get richer”.

This is no different and as Mark Pryke the Race Officer got the fleet started in a light 5 knot breeze, which increased to 10 knots during the race, it was evident that yesterday’s winners had quickly taken a leading role again.

Defending champion, Peter Ahern’s YO!, made it three out of three to take a commanding lead over Armin Schmid’s DK built Farr 36 SonnenKoenig.

With three races left, a major catastrophe will have to happen to stop YO! from winning the Prime Minister’s Cup for a third time.

David Lindahl’s La Samudra added a further win to their score in the Cruising Division to give them a comfortable advantage over Nick Band’s consistently second placed Emerald Blue, while E.A.J. Van Den Heuvel’s Bolero slipped in third place.

The closest result today came between Kevin Gillow’s Minx and Greg Coops Abraxas in IRC Division 1. They were separated by a mere minute after almost three hours of racing, with Keith Garry’s Beaux Esprits taking third spot.

This result gives Kevin Gillow’s Minx a slight advantage with two wins, but the close competitive nature of this class will probably have the results oscillating between them, the result probably coming down to the last race.

In the Sportsboat class, despite Scott Duncanson’s Phuket 8 Securicor Somtam Express finishing 27 minutes in front after three hours of racing, the handicap system is such that the Royal Malaysian Navy’s ageing Platu 25 KDP I! can still get up and win by nearly 4 minutes at the end of the day.

Scott has posed the question “What have I got to do?” on numerous occasions after completing a horizon job on the rest fleet. We will see what happens at the end of the regatta.

In the Racing Multihulls, Bob Mott’s Chameleon added a further win to their tally to take a commanding lead in this class.

Brent Mc Innes’s No Fixed Address claimed second place and has progressively climbed the leaderboard to fill second overall for the time being. Tunku Nazim’s F31 trimaran ended up in third place today for third overall.

Christopher Sieber’s Kilo rebounded in the Cruising Multihull division today, after a third place in Race 2, to top the leader board for the time being. Joan Foo Mahony’s Sedna claimed second and Bill Eby’s Lighten Up finished up third, but has a slight advantage with a win in Race 2 to lie in second place overall.

Jim Ellis’s well sailed Remington added another win in the Club Class to make it three out of three to stand firmly at the top the leader board. Paul Scholten’s Pinocchio has progressively improved each race to make a claim on second spot in front of Ayahudin Abd Rahman’s Oyster 55 Chantique.

In the Liveaboard Class, Regolarita 2 entered by Seadrift Ltd. added a second win to top the class at this stage. Philip Giles Nom de Plume managed a second to lift him up the rankings after a slow start, but William Crump’s Fistral third placing keeps them in third overall.

Although Jay Jarvis’s Blue Jay finished fourth, Fistral maintains a slight edge to stay in second overall. Having the most entries and juggling the places could be a big determining factor on the overall placing’s at the end of the series.

Local yacht surveyor Des Kearms immaculate Isobar took the honours in the Classic Class in Race 3 by a little over a minute to David Kimpton’s Lady M and the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Musytari.

This result lifts Lady M into first overall and Isobar to second with Musytari a close third and all will hinge on the results of the final two races.

Day 3 is a scheduled layday with racing to resume on Friday local time. The series finishes on Saturday with three more races for the racing classes and two more for the cruisers.

Although a number of classes have what appears to be run away winners, anything can happen in yacht racing and several teams are expected to use the layday to iron out a few crew drills and be back on the pace when racing resumes.