36 boats gathered at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club to take part in the 10th anniversary Royal Langkawi International Regatta.
Firmly established on the Asian yachting calendar, the 2012 Royal Langkawi International Regatta consists of seven classes which will race over five days in the stunning archipelago off Langkawi Island.
Five boats lined up in the IRC Racing Class as Principal Race Officer, Simon James, set them off in 10 knots.
After a good start by the two Malaysian Navy DK46s, Jelik II lead the fleet around the course almost to be caught on-the-water by Australian-entry Hooligan who put in a stunning performance in their first outing in Asian waters to take first in Race One from Team HiFi in second.
In the second race, despite blowing a spinnaker, Team HiFi, skippered by Neil Pryde, finished second on corrected time behind Hooligan. Hooligan went on to win Race Three of the day.
In the five-strong IRC 1 Class, a tough battle ensued on-the-water between China entry Jing Jing and Phuket entry Katsu. However, after handicaps were applied, Mata Hari took the first win of the day.
Mata Hari continued her winning ways in Race Two, beating Jing Jing into second.
The largest class, IRC 2, saw seven boats equally matched. After close racing in Race One, only 10 minutes separated the top five on corrected time with Skandia Endeavour of Whitby taking the win and continued her form taking the win in Race Two also.
The Sport Boat Class, made up of five one-design Platus, included teams from the Malaysian Armed Forces, Singapore Management University and Australia. Closely matched on-the-water, and after a crew member overboard in Race One from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron entry, the Singapore team took the win.
In the second race, the Singapore team finished second, beaten by the Malaysian Armed Forces by a slim margin of just seven seconds.
The Multihulls included teams from Great Britain, Thailand, USA and Australia. Fantasia lead from start to finish winning Race One by over 10 minutes on corrected time, and also taking the win in Race Two.
In the evenly-matched Club Class, a tough battle on-the-water saw Norwegian-entry Haffiman come to the fore and take first from Smystery in second in the first race of the day.
Race Two saw Rascal take the win with Haffiman in second.
Only two boats took to the startline in the Ocean Rover Class for the opening day of racing, and Australian-entry My Toy took the honours with two bullets today.
The opening party and prize-presentations take place tonight at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.
Racing for all classes continues tomorrow.
