AsianYachting Race Report 4 & Summary
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As the fresh morning breeze has a habit of dying during the afternoon the Race Officer Mark Pryke took a gamble on whether to use the offshore or inshore courses for today's final round of racing. The racing class where quick to complete their course but soon after finishing the breeze died and left the remaining competitors to battle it out with the depleted elements for a short time before the afternoon seabreeze filled in.

Peter Ahern's Yo! continued on their winning ways to finish this inaugural regatta with 6 straight wins in the Racing Class. Neil Pryde's Hi-Fidelity improved from the early races to take 2nd place from Ray Roberts who produced some excellent bursts of speed on Luna Nuova to hold onto 3rd place overall. Although finishing 4th Hannes Waimers Farr 40 Jativa was close to the leaders and in most cases only seconds separated the podium places.

Although Amir Zohri's Gotcha Lagi! crew finished with a second place today they have done enough in the earlier races to add the prestigious Prime Minister's Challenge Trophy for Cruising Class A to their already crowded trophy cabinet. Jeremy Camps Cabaret 5 took the honours today to confirm 2nd place overall and after being reinstated for the earlier races after a handicap dispute David Lindahl's La Samudra climbed onto the podium to clinch 3rd place overall.

The best of the all ladies teams on Dewi Bayu skippered by Tiffany Koo pulled off a remarkable victory today in front of the faster male opponents in the Sports Class. Despite this Mark Jewell on The Dogs 11 retained 1st place overall and the Royal Malaysian Navy's KDP1 skippered by M Zaidi and KDP2 (Mohamed Hamdan) finished up 2nd and 3rd respectively. Once again the new Phuket 8 Somtam Express skippered by Scott Duncanson and his farther John from Australia in the crew showed the fleet a clean pair of heels and record Line Honours for all the races they have competed in so far.

The overnight tie for 1st place in the Multihull Class was broken when Claes Nilsson took Papillon 11 onto the favourable side for the long downwind leg to leave Tim Milner's Charro in 2nd overall who could only manage a 4th in today's the race. Mark Horwood's Ceberus placed second today to finish third overall after placing consistently 3rd through out the event.

Although Stewart Crowe's Cinders placed 1st in consecutive races it was a little to late to knock Donald Radcliffe's Klondike from the top of the podium in the Cruising Class B. Mike Downard's Pt Dickson youth team on Tag finished up tied on points with Cinders for 2nd place after discarding their withdrawn race only to be relegated to 3rd after a countback as Cinders 2 firsts lifted them into 2nd place overall.

R Jarvis's Blue Jay came to the fore today and snatch victory from Kevan Perrins Rusalka who were tied on the overnight leaderboard in the Live Aboard Class. Grant Richardson's Eliott snuck in a 2nd place today to end up in 3rd overall and jump over Bruce Carmichael's Rock & Blues who ended up 4th overall.

In the Cruising Long Keel Classics Frank Jensens Jubilation tops the leaderboard with Joao Albuquerque's Guardian being the only other yacht to finish all the races taking second place. David Kopec's Meander was the best of the rest and Dato Richard Curtis's Evelene managed to finish his 2nd race of the series when the afternoon seabreeze filled in enough to carry them across the finish line.

Summary

Not only is this regatta the inaugural event but many other firsts have been achieved here. With over sixty competitors the organisers can feel very proud for putting together one of the biggest yachting events in Asia in their first year. Judging by the response so far, next years event will be even bigger and better. Having good reliable wind and displaying sound race management skills plus a full on social program would seem to be the right formula to bring success to any event. The racing classes will all receive replicas of the Prime Minister's Challenge Trophy and the cruising classes the RLYC Commodore's Cup.

Encouraging the formation of youth teams from the dinghy classes and getting the ladies teams to compete is a great opportunity for more local sailors to go onto bigger and better yachts plus be able to compete at higher levels when going abroad. Gaining confidence and obtaining International experience at home can be considered a luxury in Asia. The popularity that this event has generated shows signs that perhaps Asian Yachting Regatta's are reaching a mature stage in time.
Ends

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At a crowded press conference the Minister of Sports YB Dato' Hishamuddin welcomed Bruno Peyron to Langkawi and encouraged the development of a 5 year grass roots program for the sport of sailing in Malaysia. He also outlined how Malaysian Marine, Sports and adventure Tourism promotions abroad can benefit by promoting The Race Tour  'pit stop' for Bruno's giant multihulls in 2006.  Olivier de Kersauson's progress on the giant Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Schneider Electric trimaran Geronimo is closely being monitored here and Bruno and the rest of the sailors competing at this inaugural regatta are ready to welcome them back by satellite TV connection if they manage to break the Jules Verne record before 11:36:33 GMT on 16 March.

Meanwhile back out on the water a further 2 races where held for the racing classes on the inshore Bass Harbour courses and 1 offshore race for the multihull and cruising classes. The prevailing NE breezes that have been around all week decided to moderate this afternoon which saw many yachts either withdrawing or not finishing within the time limit on the offshore course.

The 2 penultimate races held today saw the leaders of the racing classes extend their lead and put themselves in virtually unbeatable positions before tomorrows closing rounds are decided. Peter Ahern's Yo! recorded a further 2 wins to give them a total of 5 bullets in a row but still had a fight on his hands to keep a clean sheet with only a minute separating the 4 racing boats after handicaps have been applied in race 4. Neil Pryde's Hi-Fidelity have bumped themselves up the order by taking a 2nd and a 3rd in front of Ray Robert's Luna Nuova who could only manage 2 x 4th places today.

Amir Zohri's Gotcha Lagi! cemented their place in the record books by putting together 2 more wins today and take a unassailable position on the overall leaderboard. Jeremy Camps on Cabaret 5 from the Royal Selangor Yacht Club has been nipping at the heels of the leaders to hold onto second place from Nick Band's Phuket based Emerald Blue which has been well sailed all week to clinch 3rd spot.

Mark Jewell followed suite with the other racing classes to take 2 first places today which gives The Dogs 11 four wins out of 5 races to take the overall commanding position in the Sports Boat class. The new Phuket 8 Somtam Express showed its pace in Bass Harbour on the flat water and romped home with 2 convincing line honurs victories. M. Zaidi's KDP1 has displaced S/Lt Hamdan's early leader KDP2 into 3rd place overall and both have a handy points lead over the all girls teams on Dewi Bayu and Dewi Laut.

The multihull class saw a change of fortunes when Bill Eby's mid fleet finisher Lighten-up took 1st place today and the re-juggling of places has Tim Milner's Charro and Claes Nilsson's Papillon 11 tied for first place on overall points. Tomorrows race will be the decider for this class with Mark Horwood's third placed Ceberus still having a good chance to leapfrog the others if conditions suit.

In Cruising B Donald Radcliffe's Klondike run of 2 convincing wins came to a end when Stuart Crowe's Cinders took the handicap honours from Mike Downard's Tag with the Port Dickson Youth Team as crew recovered with a second place after yesterdays disappointing cap shroud breakage and carry forward the points of a retirement. Interesting things could still develop in this class if tomorrows 4th race is completed as competitors can then discard their worst result which will have a dramatic effect on the overall points tally.

Blue Jay skippered by R Javis rebounded with a win today to even up the points with Kevan Perrins 2nd placed Rusalka and Bruce Carmichael's Rock & Blues keeping every body honest in third place. Tomorrows deciding race will determine the winner and break the tye between Rusalka and Blue Jay.

At the time of going to press the Long Keel classic yachts where still out there trying to finish with no wind so the result is not known but rumour has it that the recently decorated Dato Richard Curtis's 100 year old Bristol cutter Evelene may finish up in 2nd place today. That's worth shouting another round of drinks for everyone. Cheers!
Ends

When Bruno Peyron the fastest person to skipper a fully crewed yacht around the world arrives at the KLIA this weekend he will be whisked into Kuala Lumpur and amongst other things pay a courtesy call on the French ambassador to probably be briefed on how to enjoy some good ole fashioned Malaysian hospitality before jetting onto Langkawi to be a guest of honour at the inaugural Royal Langkawi International Regatta.

Over sixty yachts have entered in 7 different classes with Racing 1, Cruising A, Multihull and Sports Yachts contesting the Prime Minister's Challenge Trophy and Cruising B, Live Aboard and Full Keel classes contesting the Langkawi Commodore's Cup that will be awarded to the winners in each class. A mixture of windward / leeward and around the cans passage races will either be set offshore to the east of Langkawi or inshore around the picturesque Bass Harbour (which is no stranger to seeing International regatta's decided on these waters). This regatta will provide something for every one and has attracted a large contingent of catamarans, sports and cruising yachts from neighbouring Phuket in SW Thailand to join in the fun and strut their stuff at this inaugural regatta.

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Commodore YAM Tunku Abdullah and his hard working RLYC organising committee must be commended for their combined efforts in bringing this gala regatta into reality and the racers together at this time of the year. Showing a commitment to promoting yacht racing as a sport in Malaysia by officially launching the new 210 berth state of the art yacht marina at the Opening Ceremony next Tuesday to be presided over by the Acting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The main emphasis has been to provide 4 days of good exciting yacht racing after which having fun is assured with daily sponsored parties and prize presentations at various locations and resorts around the legendary and duty free island group.

Olivier de Kersauson and his crews progress on the the giant Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Schneider Electric trimaran Geronimo is being closely monitored here as they must return to cross the imaginary Lizard Pt (UK) to Ushant (France) start/finish line again by 11:36:33 GMT on 16 March if they are to beat Bruno Peyron's record of 64 d 8 h 37 m and 24 s set last year on the maxi catamaran Orange. A satellite TV connect up with France to be shown on a big screen in Ushant is on standby for Bruno to welcome fellow Frenchman Olivier de Kersauzon and the Geronimo crew back to France in case they break his Jules Verne record while he is a guest of honour at the 2003 RLIR.
ENDS

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