In this episode of Go Yachting we start in Langkawi, Malaysia, at the 10th anniversary Royal Langkawi International Regatta, where 36 boats took part in what has become a hotly-contested regatta on the Asian circuit.
An archipelago, Langkawi is the largest island and home to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, founder and host of the Royal Langkawi International Regatta. The 2012 Regatta will be remembered for good winds and close racing. One of only a few marina-based regattas in Asia, participants experienced a variety of courses and race areas over the five days.
In addition to welcoming back familiar faces, the Regatta organisers welcomed a number of new boats and crews this year. One crew in particular was Team Hooligan, lead by Marcus Blackmore. Racing for their first time in Asian waters, the Australian team arrived unbeaten from the Australian circuit.
The 2012 Regatta started with racing in Kuah Harbour and a series of windward-leewards for the IRC classes. Principal Race Officer, Simon James, got the fleet off on time and the 10th anniversary regatta was underway.
The IRC Racing Class saw a tussle throughout the week between Hooligan and Asian stalwart, Team HiFi, skippered by Neil Pryde. While at the other end of the class, the two identical DK47s sailed by the Malaysian Navy were evenly matched, tracking each other closely throughout the series. After 10 races, Uranus came out the better and took third overall, while Hooligan took the class win.
Competition was also close in other classes. IRC 2 went down to the final race of the series with Skandia Endeavour Of Whitby loosing out to Phoenix. While in IRC 1, Chinese-entry Jing Jing, after a slow start to the week, took the class title on the last day by a single point from local favourite Mata Hari.
Fantasia ran away with the Multihull Class winning seven from seven, despite a spirited come-back from three-time winner Grenville Fordham skippering Andaman Cabriolet Nina, who took second overall.
The competition in the Club and Ocean Rover Classes was no less competitive than in the other fleets. After a tough battle, Smystery’s consistency saw her take the win from Free Wind in the Club Class, while My Toy sailed to victory in the Ocean Rover Class.
Records fell on Day Three when Jelik II, skippered by Frank Pong, broke the Round-The-Islands race record finishing in 2 hours, 36 minutes and 30 seconds.
Arguably the tightest class of all was the Sports Boats, made up of one-design 25ft Platus. Places were traded throughout the week between Singapore Management University and the Malaysian Armed Forces entry. On the final race of the series, a photo finish saw four seconds separate the leading three boats and the Malaysian Armed Forces beat Singapore Management University by two seconds to take the class title.
Also in this episode:
2011 OptiWorlds Napier, New Zealand – The 2011 OptiWorlds, held in Napier, New Zealand, saw 210 competitors from 48 countries competing in the World Championships. Varying winds saw as little as 4 knots and as much as 20 knots test the young sailors’ skills.
In addition to the individual championship, the Team World Optimist Championship title was also up for grabs. 2010 winners, Thailand, were knocked out in the semi-final by Peru who went on to race Singapore in the final. The final went down to the deciding race where Team Singapore came out on top and confirmed as winners of the Team World Optimist Championship.
In the individual Championship, Bart Lambriex from The Netherlands lead the standings from Day 1, but a couple of mid-fleet finishes opened the door for Kimberly Lim of Singapore whose consistent performance saw her crowned 2011 World Optimist Champion.
KTA 2012: Philippines, Boracay – Over 70 riders lined up for the Boracay stop on the KTA Tour. Held at Bulabog Beach, famous for its great kiting conditions, the event was hosted by Aqua Boracay Group.
Varied winds greeted the riders and after four days of competition Kerem Bailk from Turkey won the Men’s Twin Tip class and Michalina Laskowska from Poland the Women’s. In the Race Board Class, Salih Cakir from Turkey was first for the Men and Kathrin Bogwardt from Germany for the Women.
Brought to you by the Go Yachting team.
