19th Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta 2008
AY Race Report 5 & Summary

Last dash to the finish
Nature played into the hands of the organisers allowing them to hold three races in succession for the racing classes and complete the entire program for all classes. Final results hinged on today's performance and the fresh breeze saw the sailors out early fine tuning the crew drills before the high noon starting time.

With the absence of Frank Pong, Philippine skipper Louie Perfectua went out to show that Jelik's Race 5 win from Penang to Langkawi was no fluke. Taking three resounding Line Honours victories, two Handicap wins and a third place today might be a case of when the boss is away the mice are at play. Despite Jelik's fine performance lifting them to second overall they could not shake off Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi-Fi, whose three early wins, three second and one third place was enough to become the 2008 RMSIR Racing Class champion. At the end of racing and despite winning the resailed Race 4 Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing was tied with Jelik on 17 points which was broken in favour of Jelik and relegated Quantum Racing to third overall. This is Neil Pryde's fourth triumph at the RM and the crew are very pleased with the outstanding performance that the recent keel change, new mast and sails have produced.

Once again Hans Rahman's Judel/Vrolijk 70 Yasooda roared off into the distance to finish 19 minutes in front of Anthony Hastings Beneteau 53 Baby Tonga but it was a few minutes short of handicap victory. Posting four wins out of five races Baby Tonga became the Premier Cruising Class champion at their first attempt. For all there efforts Yasooda finished with second overall leaving the Royal Selangor Yacht Club Commodore Dato’ Alex Nah's Hunter 49 Virgo in third overall.

Having dipped down the leaderboard with two fourth places the Royal Malaysian Navy Farr 520 Zuhrah skippered by Mohd Razali regained the form that won them the first two races and added two more wins and another fourth place to take the top podium position in the IRC 3 class. Dr Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid crew put in a gallant performance to win the resailed Race 4 by 28 seconds and capped off with the Penang Langkawi Race victory has them finishing up in second overall. Peter Jones Bashford Howison 41 Moya Hin ended up tied on points with Australian Maid but has to settle with third overall. Coming into today's racing Ben Copley's Club Swan 42 Katsu was sitting proud at the top of the pile but the close racing displayed in this class sees them drop down in fourth overall after mid fleet placing's.

Consistently scoring second places Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings finally rose to the occasion by winning Race 7 to become the IRC 4 champion for 2008 in grand style. Niels Dgenkolf's X 3/4 tonner Phoenix made a late charge to pick up two wins and a fourth place today to lift themselves to second overall. Posting a couple of early wins has kept Heinz Heyer's X 402 BMW Super Duper in third place on the podium despite scoring three fifth places today. After a slow start Stuart Williamson's Beneteau 34.7 Skandia Endeavour of Whitby 2, 3, 4 scoreline today lifts them to fourth overall.

Gavin Welman's Hallberg Rassy 53 Rascal continued on there winning ways to triumph in three races out of five to become the Non IRC Class 6 champion for the second year in a row. This class has kept the International Jury led by Brian Willis busy all week with protests and counter protests about course instructions. Its strange how the least likely class can create so much misunderstanding of the sailing instructions. Simon Morris Thistlewaite Topsail Schooner Sirius 1935 not only paints a perfect picture with the hilly Bass Harbour back drop (See Photo below) but managed to find his way through the protest procedure to claim second spot on the podium. John Clayton's Millenium has been amongst the front runners all regatta to secure third overall.

Summary
Well what a marathon. Only sailors with allot of stamina on and off the water should compete on the Raja Muda Regatta. Sailing through the night, finishing in the early hours off the morning, consuming copious quantities of alcohol, raging around the night clubs at the stopovers, then going out and race again with little or no sleep for a week is why this event is called the "Most challenging regatta in Asia". This behavior is normal on the International sailing scene and anyone looking for a Asian holiday with a difference, where they can get involved with some sailing activities should not go past Malaysia as the Raja Muda Regatta beckons each November. World cruisers are especially welcome as the island hopping nature of the regatta was specially designed with them in mind, to showcase the west coast islands and enjoy some good ole Malaysian hospitality. See ya next year for the 20th anniversary celebrations which are shaping up to be one of the best ever.

Full Results and more RMSIR 08 details at: http://www.rmsir.com

Online AY Race Reports with photos can be accessed from:
RMSIR 08 Photo Gallery: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?RMSIR08
Race Report 4: http://asianyachting.com/news/RMSIR08d.htm
Race Report 3: http://asianyachting.com/news/RMSIR08c.htm
Race Report 2: http://asianyachting.com/news/RMSIR08b.htm
Race Report 1: http://asianyachting.com/news/RMSIR08a.htm
Pre-Race Report: http://asianyachting.com/news/RMSIR08.htm

AY Race Reports are proudly sponsored by the following advertisers.

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