Yachting/Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy: Consistency gives Quantum Racing Victory

QUANTUM Racing won the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy after coming out tops at the Royal International Langkawi Regatta yesterday. After eight races the boat skippered by Ray Roberts won three races, was second in four and third in one and beat its competitors with consistent performances.

Quantum Racing scored 14 points which was better than the 16 points scored by second place Jelik. In this competition the boat with the least number of points is declared the winner.

This is Quantum Racing’s third victory in a row in the annual regatta.

Jelik, with Hong Kong multi- millionaire Frank Pong at the helm, crossed the finish line more often than the other boats but its low handicap meant it had to lose out to the boats with a higher handicap. Third place in the Racing category went to Hi-Fi skippered by Neil Pryde.

In the IRC category, Phoenix skippered by Neils Degenkolw managed to win by two points from Lunch Cutter II with Keith Dunn behind the wheel while local favourite Mata Hari, tipped to win big with Vincent Chan at the helm, finished third.

Owned by Gee Boon Kee, Mata Hari faltered on the last day with light winds making its going tough.

In the sports boat section, Raimon Land helmed by Scott Duncanson romped home easy winner with five first place finishes followed by Navy 1 (Mohd Razali Mansor) and Longtze-Premier (Pierre Mas).

In the race for the youth category, Thai International with Teikki Ballian shouting the orders outran MYC-KFC (Rizal Mahadi Sazili) while Singapore Management University (Benjamin Mui) took third spot.

The multihull section was won by Moto Inzi (Roger Kingdon) followed by Twin Sharks (Bill Phelps) and Mamba (Henry Kaye).

The Club Cruising found the going tough with the light winds but Amanda Star skippered by Chris Kingsley Smith played Good Samaritan by towing My Toy to the start line when My Toy’s engine failed.

Smith, whose crew included his wife Sherrine, Richard Denning and William C. Turner, was eventually beaten to third place by My Toy. The class was won by Sofa So Good (John Ramsden) followed by Eloise (Gilles Labbadi).

Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor gave away the main prizes at a gala dinner held at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.