PRESS RELEASE RACE DAY 5

Langkawi, 13 January 2018 – Day 5. Defending champion THA72 has won the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy in the Racing Class two years consecutively in the 16th Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR). The team won 6 out of 7 races in this year’s regatta. Uranus came in second, while Alive took the third place.

The regatta saw a very tight race between Mata Hari, skippered by Vincent Chan, a regular regatta participant and Char Chan, skippered by Kazuki Kihara in the IRC1 class. Mata Hari won by one point in the last race and took home the LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy over Char Chan and Meraki.

The RLIR-IRC2 Challenge Trophy went to defending champion Phoenix. Old Pulteney Blue Angel settled for second place, ahead of RSYC Nijinsky.

Tantrum Too outfoxed Fetz Ma again in the Multihull class two years in a row in a tight race series with only one point separating these competitors, taking home the Malaysia Multihull Challenge Cup.

The Commodore’s Challenge Cup went to Southern Breeze 3 in the Club class, while Chantique took home the Ocean Rover title.

Organised by the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC), the international regatta will see competitive sailors from Australia, France, Denmark, Japan, Great Britain, Russia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia vying for coveted trophies and prizes in the annual sailing event.

All six classes competed in seven races over the past five days.

In Race 7, THA72 in the Racing class defended yesterday’s leading position. Meraki in the IRC1 class took 1st place for the first time in this year’s regatta on Race Day 5. Phoenix in the IRC2 class won all 7 races. Tantrum Too and Fetz Ma have been fighting it out in the Multihull class with Tantrum Too taking the lead in today’s races. Tristram Denyer’s Iseulta in the Club class topped the table today for the first time. Chantique, one of the Ocean Rovers, won 5 races in total including both of today’s races.

Day 5 of the regatta greeted the sailors with 6-10 knots of wind, and boats went out early to the east coast to get ready for the first race. The Race Committee set the courses for the Racing class on course 1iii, IRC1 and IRC2 on course 1ii, Multihull, Club and Ocean Rovers raced on course 1viii. The final race series for the 2018 regatta saw the fleet flagged off at 9.55am with steady 6-10 knots of wind.

The first race finished at about 11am and since the wind was still holding steady, a second race was announced to start straight after. Racing Club, IRC1 and IRC2 raced on the same course as before, Multihull on 1ii, Club and Ocean Rovers on 1viii. They all had a clear start between 11.30am and 11.50am.

Linda, one of the three boats in the Ocean Rover Class and skippered by Woodrow Jack Christensen, had to retire in the second race due to a torn headsail. During the second race, there was a slight course adjustment required from 060 to 050 for the windward leeward legs heading more into a northeasterly direction. All boats crossed the finishing line by 1.24pm when they sailed back home to celebrate yet another successful regatta at the Fisherman’s Wharf, the RLYC.

There was a closing dinner by the poolside of the RLYC, followed by the Grand Prize Presentation Ceremony.

The Royal Langkawi 16th International Regatta is approved by the World Sailing (formerly known as ISAF) and Malaysian Sailing Association (MSA).