Yo! ho ho for Langkawi inshores

by Bruce Maxwell on 21 Nov 2003 Peter Ahern’s Pacific 50 Yo! scored a crucial win in the 60 nautical mile Penang to Langkawi race of the Raja Muda Regatta in Malaysia to take a slight lead into the final two days of ‘around the buoys’ racing in Kuah Harbour. Yo! has a strong performance record in this type of race, and Ahern once campaigned to have the whole regatta held in Langkawi, so having handled the distance events much better this year, he goes into the closing stages as a firm favorite to take his first ever Raja Muda Regatta title.

Fellow Australian Ray Roberts in the Farr 52 Hollywood Boulevard is only a point off the pace, however, after placing second for 1, 4, 2 results in the three inter island races, so he cannot be discounted. Both owners have won regattas recently in neighboring Thailand, Roberts the Ko Samui event in the Gulf last May, and Ahern the King’s Cup in Phuket in December 2002.

Complicating the plot still further is the famous Hong Kong based New Zealand sailmaker Neil Pryde, the only one of the three to have won the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy held at Republic of Singapore Yacht Club for the best overall performances in the Raja Muda, King’s Cup and Singapore Straits Regatta.

Pryde, sailing his much-modified Sydney 46 Hi Fidelity, came in third in the shifty airs north of Penang, but he has plenty of experience and a crack crew and can never be written off in this opening event of the Omega Asian Yachting Circuit. He has 3 2 3 results and needs to add some bullets in the inshore contests to overtake his rivals.

Keith Moore’s Pla Loma fell back to fifth after her surprise win in the Pangkor-Penang leg, and similarly Fred Kinmonth’s defending champion, the Sydney 38 Stella Minter Ellison, languished well behind the front runners, as did Pasaya.

The ladies aboard Dewi Baru, a mix of Malaysians and some experienced offshore Australian girls took the gun in Racing Class B for smaller boats and vaulted into the lead by a single point over the Sydney 36, Foxy Lady which had her worst result so far at fifth. The Sydney 32 Scallywag and Sumatra found some form to place 2 and 3, opening this class up completely.

Dr Jon Wardill’s Australian Maid was also knocked off her perch in Premier Cruising Class by the Beneteau Yendys, Sydney spelt backwards, although she is now a Malaysian based boat, while Dr Ian Nicolson, winner of regattas at Musket Cove in Fiji and Airlie Beach in Australia’s Whitsundays recently, came third for 3, 4, 3 placings.

Pelangi has taken a stranglehold in the cruisers with 1, 1, 1 results, leaving Muzbnuts and Vela to fight it out for second, while in the Classic Class, German-registered Green Sleeves looks similarly impervious although Chalupa picked up her first win in the Penang to Langkawi race and F31 and Dondang Sayang are in the hunt for minor placings.