RLIR 2010 offers Round the Island Race and challenging new courses for participants

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) in Kuah, Langkawi is once again inviting participants to register for the Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010 (RLIR 2010).

The RLIR 2010 is scheduled from 8th to 15th January 2010 with races from 1 – 15 January 2010 at the RLYC. The event will see several categories of racing namely the Racing class, IRC class, Sportsboats, Multihulls and Club Cruisers.

Weather conditions in Langkawi during the race are expected to be ideal for racing with lots of winds anticipated in January.

Wind speeds of between 8 – 20 knots are forecast for the period and participants can look forward to a challenging but unique 5-day sailing experience.

The secretariat will maintain the round-the-island race introduced last year due to its popularity among the participants. Apart from the usual windward/leeward courses, new and challenging courses are also being designed for RLIR 2010.

Langkawi’s ideal location in the northern, west coast of Malaysia and the warm, clear waters surrounding the legendary islands of Langkawi is an additional bonus for sailors and cruising yachtsmen.

But the fun will not end with the races. As has been the practice every year, the RLIR 2010 organising team is going to great lengths to promise daily, fun-filled prize giving parties.

A special promotion package is currently on offer for early bird registration where an entry fee of RM550 per team, inclusive of skipper will be charged for teams that register and make full payments before 30 October 2009. A RM100 fee will be charged for each additional crew member.

The fees will cover the cost of berthing for 9 nights at the RLYC, water and electricity, transportation to and from official RLIR 2010 events and regatta souvenirs.

The RLIR 2010 is the eighth regatta to be held by the RLYC consecutively since the inaugural event in 2003. Already part of the Asian Regatta Calendar, the event has for the last seven years been drawing regular boats as well as new participants who actively race in regional yacht circuits.

Many of the multihulls, racing yachts and sports boats from around the globe and regular competitors of the RLIR are expected to return for next year’s race.

Teams participating in the RLIR 2010 will compete for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy (for participants of internationally registered yachts), the Commodore’s Challenge Cup (for participants of club-registered cruisers), “LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy” (for participants of the IRC Class), Langkawi Sports Trophy (for participants in the Sports Boat Class) and the Malaysian Multihull Challenge Cup (for participants under the Multihulls category).

This year, as a tribute to the Founder Chairman and 1st Commodore of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Almarhum Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah, the RLIR introduced the “Tunku Abdullah Sportsmanship” award for the best team, both on water and land in the RLIR 2009.

The award will be given out again this year and represents the values for which the late Tunku stood for. The winner will be chosen from nominations and votes from all participating teams in the regatta.