Wind stops as Langkawi regatta starts

LANGKAWI (Gazette, Asian Yachting): Yesterday’s first day of racing in the BMW-Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2004 suffered from a syndrome known all too well to organizers and competitors in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta – fickle winds. For the Racing, Premier Cruising and Sports Boats classes, two windward-leeward courses were planned, but after the first lap of the first race, the 5- to 6-knot breeze faded and the course had to be shortened. The second race was postponed to another day. However, the day still saw some competitive racing among the 55 yachts in the regatta, with Phuket-based crews scoring some notable victories. Scott Duncanson’s Phuket 8 Som Tam Express managed a first and fastest, just 35 seconds ahead of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Malik Sulaiman on KDP 1. As the Multihulls, Cruising Class and Cruising Liveaboards prefer off-the-wind courses, a lengthy passage race around the cans was planned. The leading yachts completed the course within the time limit but a number of others decided to call it a day as the breeze faded. Phuket’s Mark Pescott aboard Summersalt led the way to claim another victory in the Racing Multihulls while Brent McInnes and No Fixed Address won the Cruising Multis. Among the big boys, last year’s Racing Class winner, Peter Ahern’s Yo! and Premier Cruising winner Gotcha Lagi!, skippered by Malaysia’s Amir Zohri and sponsored by Malaysia Airlines, continued their winning ways. Full results throughout the series can be found at: https://www.langkawiregatta.com/result/Series Results.htm