Ulumulu Quantum Racing wins in Langkawi

by Di Pearson on 17 Feb 2006 Ray Roberts and his crew on the DK46 Ulumulu Quantum Racing have added another trophy to the cabinet, taking out the Royal Langkawi International Regatta which finished in Malaysia last night.

By winning the first four of the six race series and placing third and second in the final two windward/leeward races, the Sydney crew sailing the chartered DK46 Drumstick (renamed for this event), took out the IRC Racing class.

In winning the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy, the crew also carted off the major prize; an all expense paid trip for the entire crew to meet the BMW Oracle Team in Valencia and view some America’s Cup Act racing courtesy of BMW Malaysia.

‘We had an excellent regatta, both on and off the water. We are always very well looked after on the Asian circuit, as we were here. I would love to see more Australians come and compete here,’ Roberts said late last night.

‘We are celebrating tonight – the guys are letting their hair down a bit,’ the Sydney businessman said. Steve McConaghy, Ulumulu Quantum Racing’s tactician added, ‘It’s great to get another win on the board. We’ve been putting in the hard yards and it has paid off for us.

‘We can relax tonight and enjoy the hospitality of the event – they’ve put on a really good show for the competitors here – I can’t say enough about this event. We are all really looking forward to our trip to Valencia, but we have to get some other races of our own out of the way first.’

Roberts’ crew finished five points in front of Malik Sulaiman’s Malaysian entry Zuhrah, which won the final race and seven points clear of Thomas Blixt's V060 Ericsson (SWE), winner of the penultimate race.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia crew now flies home to prepare for some upcoming Farr 40 events. Roberts and his crew of McConaghy, navigator Brian Northcote, Stuart Broom, Scott ‘Scooter’ Hinton, Marcus Jones and Aaron Linton have been non-stop competing at IRC and Farr 40 events since September last year, which has paid handsome dividends, with a number of wins in both IRC yachting events and Farr 40 One Design racing.