PRESS RELEASE RACE DAY 3

LANGKAWI, 10 JANUARY 2019 – Wind conditions got even better at 17 knots for sailing teams at the 17th Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2019 for the Day Three race – the much anticipated around the island course – which offers spectacular views of the surrounding islands and unique rock formations.

Some of the slower boats in the Club Cruising and White Sail classes especially, set out to sail earlier for the longer than usual race route.

Tayfun Koksal, RLIR 2019 Regatta Director said the around the island course is challenging and tricky as wind conditions change, in particular when sailing teams enter the narrow channel at Dayang Bunting which is protected by islands.

“This is the race all sailing teams look forward to, as besides sailing, they enjoy the scenic view and also get to assess and improve their sailing skills, and they can only do this course when the winds are strong.

“The Racing Class seems to be in the firm hands of Team Hollywood – as they have won six races thus far – making them a clear favourite for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy. However, IRC 1 which had anticipated a close fight between Mata Hari KL Registry and Char Chan, appears now to have a third challenger with MegaZip from Russia as this team is holding on to its second spot after three days of racing,’’ he said.

The top placed sailing team will win the coveted Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy (Racing class) upon an aggregated of best scores under this category, at the end of the week.

Day 2 and Day 3 winners from every class were presented with prizes today, by media partners namely Homme Productions, Sea Yachting Magazine, Digital Vision Advertising and LANGKAWIfm.

The 17^th Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) 2019 takes place in Kuah, Kedah between 8 and 12 January, 2019.

Organised by the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC), the RLIR 2019 has 35 new entrants and the re-emergence of veteran sailors from 8 countries – Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Thailand.

Malaysia is represented by 19 sailing boats.

Participating teams compete in seven classes – Racing Class, IRC 1, IRC 2, Sportsboat, Club Cruising, Multihull, and White Sail.

Trophies and awards include the coveted Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy (Racing Class), the LADA-International Racing Class Challenge Trophy (IRC 1 Class), RLIR- International Racing Class Challenge Trophy (IRC 2 Class), the Commodore’s Challenge Cup (Club Cruising Class), Langkawi Sports Trophy (Sportsboat Class), as well as the Malaysia Multihull Challenge Cup (Multihull Class).

RLIR 2019 is organised in partnership with Tourism Malaysia, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia, the Malaysia Sailing Association and the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA).