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BMW
Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2005
Asian
Yachting Race Report 3- 4th March
Crash,
bang and bruised egos...
Much
to everyone's delight a fresh 18 to 20 knot North Easterly returned
overnight that livened up the sailing activities somewhat after
a slow start to the regatta although many crews had difficulties
dealing with the situation. A resounding start line crash between
Regolarita 2 entered by Seadrift Ltd and William Crump's
Fistral, who are vying for overall honours in the Liveaboard
Class resulted in both retiring and serious enough that neither
will be taking part in the rest of the regatta. Several crews were
also seasick and taken off the yachts between races. Perhaps their
bodies are unaccustomed to all the exquisite food being served up
at the sponsored 5 star functions after each race day.
Racing
Class
Peter Ahern's Malaysian Airlines sponsored YO! added 2
more wins to keep a clean score sheet and clinch the overall title
for the 3rd time in succession with one race to go. The placing's
have remained the same throughout the series with Armin Schmid's
DK built Farr 36 SonnenKoenig helmed by Hannes Waimer the
CEO of DK Yachts in 2nd place and Troy Yaw's all Malaysian crew
on Ulumulu ending up 3rd on their first outing together.
Premier
Cruising Class
Two more wins for David Lindahl's La Samudra sees them
seal a overall class victory although Nick Band's Emerald Blue
and E.A.J. Van Den Heuvel's Bolero traded 2nd and 3rd placing's
over the 2 races today to keep them in respective podium spots.
IRC
1
Two wins for Greg Coops Abraxas sees them regain the overall
lead from Kevin Gillow's Minx and as only one point separates
them the final result could hinge on tomorrows last race. Kazuo
Kuramochi's Japanese team on Princess Isabella claimed
3rd and another day like today could see them taking the final podium
place.
Sportsboat
Class
The stronger breeze favoured Scott Duncanson's Phuket 8 crew on
Securicor Somtam Express and may have been the answer to
their earlier prayers. Two wins catapults them to the lead over
the Royal Malaysian Navy's Platu 25's KDP I! and KDP
I after being tied coming into today's races.
Racing
Multihulls
Tim Milner's Charro came to the fore today and broke Bob
Mott's stranglehold on the series who has scored 3 wins to date
on Chameleon. This also lifts Charro to 2nd overall
and Tunku Nazim's F31 trimaran maintaining 3rd spot.
Cruising
Multihulls
Christopher Sieber's Kilo scored another win to head the
leaderboard as Joan Foo Mahony's Sedna progressively climbs
up the placing's to score another 2nd place, this time only missing
out by 32 seconds to be tied with Bill Eby's Lighten Up
for 2nd overall with the final race decider to come tomorrow.
Club
Class
Ayahudin Abd Rahman's Oyster 55 Chantique made easy work
of the course in the stronger breeze to break Jim Ellis's winning
streak on Remington who ended up 4th today but still remains
at the top of the leaderboard. Paul Scholten's Beneteau 27.7 Pinocchio
got the better of Commodore Aziz Kadir's sistership Juita
from the RSYC on their first outing.
Liveaboard
Class
Jelle De Vries Sunshine Forever emerged as the winner after
a startline accident forced the leaders to retire. Walter Lehnert's
Sea Fever II claimed 2nd place and Jay Jarvis's twin rigged
Blue Jay despite ending up 3rd today advanced to the top
of the leaderboard. William Crump's Fistral got redress
from the International jury and scored 3 points which is their average
score taken from the earlier races. As the yachts involved in the
incident will play no further role in the regatta this may leave
the way open for Jay Jarvis's Blue Jay to have successive
class wins at his event.
Classic
Class
The biggest yacht in the event being David Kimpton's Lady M
excelled in the strong breeze and close reaching course to comfortably
romp home in front of Des Kearms heavily reefed Isobar
and take a small 1 point lead going into tomorrows final race. Dato'
Richard Curtis's 100 year old Eveline also enjoyed the
conditions to lay claim on 3rd place today after a slow start to
the series.
Race Officer
Mark Pryke stated at the press conference that the final day of
racing tomorrow may be held in picturesque Bass Harbour if the NE
tradewind continues to blow. This will be a huge relief to the large
media team assembled here as most were completely drenched before
they got to the start line and had to leave the outer course well
before the race was finished to protect their valuable camera equipment.
Mark also thought that today's wind was the strongest ever experienced
over the 3 years he has been officiating at the event.
To
view the web edition with photos click on: http://asianyachting.com/news/RLIR05.htm.
Full
results can be found at: http://www.langkawiregatta.com/.
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