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Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010- Joined at the hip

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 15 Jan 2010
Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010. Joined at the hip - HiFi keeps cover on Evolution Racing. Guy Nowell http://www.guynowell.com
Sunshine and 16-18 kts of good solid north easterly breeze marked the start of the fourth day of racing at the Royal Langkawi International Regatta. All divisions returned to the ‘outside’ racecourse today for some cans racing, with enough bounce in the swell – maybe a metre or so – to make life plenty wet enough on the foredeck.





First off was the Racing division, in which Neil Pryde’s HiFi, skippered temporarily by tactician Kevin ‘Cozzie’ Costin, held an overnight lead of just one point over Ray Roberts’ Evolution Racing. The two boats have played tag team all week, and over the last five races have collected all of the second and first places between them, except one, relegating Jelik II (Frank Pong) to an inevitable third place with the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Zuhal bringing up the tail of the division. Game on. HiFi won the Phuket King’s Cup in December last year after losing out on countback in both 2008 and 2007, so feels she has a point to prove. Ray Roberts has won the Prime Minister’s Trophy at the RLIR for the last four years in a row, and practically owns it – so they have a point to prove as well.



So no surprises when the two boats match-raced through the start sequence, and then proceeded to match race their way through the race itself, tack for tack and gybe for gybe, ignoring the other two boats in the division. It really was nip and tuck all the way, with no quarter given, and provided a right Royal (Langkawi) spectacle for the spectating media. But someone has to win a face-off like this: HiFi won the first top mark, and then covered every tack and gybe to cross the finish line 42 sec ahead of Evolution Racing and winning by 1 min 50 sec on handicap. A nasty wrap in the spinnaker staysail probably didn’t help, and Jelik squeezed into second place. Roberts reported later that he didn’t feel that the crew had sailed the boat particularly well, and so a pep-talk was in order at half time, and it had the right effect – Evolution Racing turned the tables on HiFi for the next race, leading all the way round the course and winning by a scant 20 sec on handicap.

After allowing drop races, the scores are now level at nine points each. Neil Pryde will be on the helm tomorrow morning, with everything to fight for. 'If it’s going to be close on the race course tomorrow, I think I’d rather Neil was driving,' said Costin.




In the oddly-named Premier Cruising division, Peter Wintle’s Kuoll Baby obviously enjoyed winning yesterday, and today demonstrated that it was no fluke by leading Katsu (Ben Copley) round the course and handing out a lesson in how a 37-footer can out sail a 42-footer, two races in a row. Former owner of the former Jaywalker, Paul Bankowski, said, 'the stronger breeze today suited us perfectly. The boat is set up well and the crew work was spot on. We still have a fight on our hands, being two points behind Katsu, but I believe that with the right breeze we can turn the score round and win the division.'



Da Vinci Nina has already 'turned the scores round'. Gren Fordham’s Andaman Cabriolet catamaran arrived at RLIR a day late have been 'on show' at the Phuket Boat Show (PIMEX) until late on Sunday, and then making an unexpectedly slow passage to Langkawi overnight and on Monday. But five bullets from five races since then, including two today, has allowed them to drop one of their no-shows to lead the Multihull Racing division with one race to go.

As long as there is good breeze on the last day of a regatta, everyone has a good time. It was hard work starting this regatta in precious little breeze last Monday – let’s hope that tomorrow’s return to the ‘inside’ courses in Bass Harbour has the breeze to carry off the last day in style.










Current standings:
Racing
1= Hi Fi (9)
1= Evolution Racing (9)
3 Jelik (15)
Premier Cruising
1 Katsu (9)
2 Koull Baby (11)
3 Mata Hari (13)
IRC 1
1 Phoenix (7)
2 Cabaret 6 (16)
3 Jandi (15)
Sports boats
1 RQYS (9)
2 SMU (13)
3 RM Navy 1 (13)
Multihull Racing
1 Da Vinci Nina (9)
2 Vertical Time (10)
3 Blue Moon (16)
Club Cruising
1 Rapscallion (5)
2 Marikh (6)
3 Haffman (12)
Ocean Rover
1 Astra (4)
2 Rascal (8)
3 My Toy (12)

Full results at www.langkawiregatta.com

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