Royal Langkawi International Regatta– Class entries bank on experience

by Icarus Sailing Media on 30 Dec 2015 The 14th Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) 2016 will take place from 11 to 16 January 2016 and so far, 32 yachts have registered their entries. Malaysia leads the pack with thirteen entries, followed by seven from Australia, two each from Great Britain and Thailand, and one each from China, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and Singapore.

Of the 32, some of the most experienced are skippers of the Multihull and Club Class entries.

Grenville Fordham who has skippered his multihull at five previous RLIRs will be looking to defend his 2015 title in IMAGE asia NINA against Manta Blu and the newly-launched Allegro.

In the Club Class, Rascal is entered in its eighth RLIR with Gavin Welman at the helm and, one of the most experienced sailors when it comes to navigating Langkawi waters is Henning Lenz racing in his 12th RLIR in My Toy.

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) Rear Commodore/RLIR 2016 Organising Chairperson, Tunku Soraya said, “After 13 years of witnessing some amazing yachts in action, I can see how the uniqueness of sailing in Langkawi waters keeps the sailors coming back year after year. The challenges of sailing here as well as the beauty of the surroundings are hard to resist for all types of boats.”

Aside from Allegro, the other new entries expected to show their mettle are Sport Boats Team RLYC and Muara Watersports Malaysia Racing Team; and Alive, Emagine, Foreign Affair and Trader in the IRC Class.

Also new this year is the RLIR IRC 2 Challenge Trophy, adding to the other five challenge trophies of the competition.

The teams in RLIR 2016 will compete for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy – for Racing Class yachts; the Commodore’s Challenge Cup – for participants of club-registered cruisers; the LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy – for participants in the IRC 1 Class; RLIR IRC 2 Challenge Trophy – for participants in the IRC 2 Class; the Langkawi Sports Trophy – for participants in the Sports Boat Class and the Malaysian Multihull Challenge Cup – for participants in the Multihull category.

Another trophy that sets the RLIR apart from other regattas is the Tunku Abdullah Sportsmanship Award, presented in memory of the late Founding Chairman and the first Commodore of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC), Almarhum Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Voted by the participants, it is awarded to a team for competitiveness, fair racing and comradeship, on water and land, and was won in 2015 by Grenville Fordham and his crew.

Media Partners are SEA Yachting, SAIL-WORLD Asia.com, HOMME, YACHT Style, IMAGE asia, TRAXXfm Radio and RTM and Spectrum Outdoor.

The Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) 2016 is organised by the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) and sanctioned by the ISAF and Malaysian Sailing Association (MSA), and supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia. The RLIR is part of the Asian Yachting Circuit.