5th Asean Regatta 2004
AsianYachting Race Report 3 & Summary

It's a rap, for YO!

After a short wait for the breeze to build, the final races to determine this years Asean Regatta champion got away in fine style. Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady made a late charge in race 6 to add another win to his tally by beating Peter Ahern's Yo! for the second time in the series, this time by a little over a minute.

Bob Howieson's Teko MDBS took 3rd place by a whisker or 9 seconds from Glen Omeroyd's Don Quixote to maintain his 3rd place overall and build on his lead in the hotly contested Sportsboat class where the lead changed several times throughout the race.

For the first time in the 5 year history of the Asean regatta all 7 races have been completed. The uncharacteristic low pressure weather system passing across the peninsula over the last few days has bought flash flooding to the northern regions and produced exceptional sailing conditions along the coastal areas.

The smile on Bill Bremner's face got even bigger when he heard that Foxy Lady beat Yo! for the third time in the final race 7. Unfortunately Bill's late charge was not quite enough to earn him the overall title from Peter Ahern whose four early wins and three second places is just enough to earn the title for the second year in succession. Bob Howieson's Teko MDBS once again held onto 3rd place overall and won the sportsboat class.

Although it may seem to be a bit of a mismatch pitting sportsboats against large keelboats the finish times have shown differently. Only minutes and sometimes seconds separate the leading boats on corrected time. With a little more wind to induce planning the sportsboats may well have saved their time and toppled the bigger boats.

All in all, they had very close and exciting racing amongst themselves where the lead changed several times throughout each race and have been also classified as a separate class. As it maybe a sign of the times the sportsboats must be further encouraged and this hotly contested class may well become the racing class of the future.

5th Asean Regatta 2004
AsianYachting Race Report 2

Another great day racing in paradise.
Having 10 to 13 knots of wind, blue skies, warm tropical weather and racing true windward/leeward courses seems to be the right recipe to keep the sailors very happy. Which by no means is a easy task considering the vagaries of nature and all. After vowing to put in an even bigger effort during last nights barbeque, Bill Bremner crew on Foxy Lady succeeded in taking on the Herculean task of beating Peter Ahern's YO! during race 4 by 28 seconds to spoil their clean sheet to date. Glen Omeroyd snuck into third place on Don Quixote and managed to displace Bob Howieson's Platu sistership Teko MDBS down to 4th place.

As the wind picked up a little, Race 5 saw Peter Ahern's YO! regain his place at the top of the leader board by narrowly beating Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady this time around. Mark Jewell's crew onboard the Laser SB3 Jativa put in a sterling effort to beat all the Platu's and claim 3rd spot overall plus record their first race win in the sportsboat grouping.

Although the overall regatta placing's seem to be taking shape the Sportsboat grouping is wide open with either Bob Howieson's Teko MDBS or Glen Omeroyd's Don Quixote becoming the likely winners and Mark Jewell's Jativa taking a solid 3rd place overall. Racing continues tomorrow with 2 more races to complete the seven race series.

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5th Asean Regatta 2004
AsianYachting Race Report 1

The Show must go on...
5th Nov, Pt Dickson, Malaysia: Despite most of the large IRC Class 1 race boats being snapped up by overseas interests and leaving us with very depleted fleet numbers in SE Asia, the sportsboats have risen to the occasion and saved one of the best run racing class regattas held each year in the region.

Peter Ahern's race winning 50ft Murray Burns Dovell Yo! and Bill Bremner's Sydney 36 Foxy Lady have been joined by 2 DK Yachts built Laser SB3's and 3 Farr Platu 25's from the Royal Selangor Yacht Club, so the show must go on.

Aussie Chris Kelly has returned as Race Officer for the 5th year in succession and a number of top class sailors are either helming boats or can be seen amongst the crews.

A light 5 to 8 knot northerly breeze, which steadily increased throughout the afternoon greeted the sailors on the first day of racing. Roaming rain showers appeared on the horizon which looked very threatening but managed to stay away from the race area for the entire day.

Peter Ahern's Yo! took line and handicap honours during race 1 from Bob Howieson's Platu 25 Teko and Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady from Singapore 3rd. The overall regatta placings seem to be like a David and Goliath battle but the Sportsboat grouping is allot more closely contested with less than a minute separating the first 3 places.

Race 2 had a similar result with Yo! 1st and Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady reversing the 2nd and 3rd place order with Bob Howieson's Teko. In the Sportsboat grouping the Platu 25's had a slight edge over the Laser SB3's in the moderate conditions with Teko taking 2 firsts, Glen Omeroyd's Don Quixote two second places and 3rd placing's being shared by Jativa and Jativa 2 the SB3's helmed by Mark Jewell and CEO of DK Yachts Hannes Waimer respectively.

After making some slight course changes to suite the conditions Race 3 got underway in 9 to 11 knots of breeze with lumpy seas caused by the passing rain storms. As expected Peter Ahern's YO! claimed line and handicap honours followed by Bob Howieson's Platu 25 Teko and Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady that were separated by a mere 4 seconds to yet again reverse the order on each other. Racing continues tomorrow and some crews are looking forward to similar conditions whilst others are hoping to have ironed out the cobwebs after having a long break from competitive racing.

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