Malaysia's only all youth crew - Raja Muda Regatta

by Datin Teh Lip Pin on 12 Nov 2006 Royal Selangor Yacht Club today announced the full squad line-up of an all-youth all Malaysian crew to enter the Racing Class category of the 17th Raja Muda Selangor Regatta, to begin off the waters of Port Klang next Saturday.

This is the first time an all-youth boat has entered the Racing Class in the seventeen year-long history of the Raja Muda.

The overall winner of the Racing Class will take home the coveted Raja Muda Cup, to be awarded by club patron HRH Sultan of Selangor, himself a keen yachtsman, having circumnavigated around the world in the mid-nineties.

The youth crew will participate in the regatta on-board a fully-sponsored Farr 42, S/Y Gapurna Switchblade, under the supervision of qualified skipper, Mike Downer.

In announcing the names, Club Commodore and Regatta Chairman, Dato’ Richard Curtis highlighted the fact that the crew of 10 boys and 2 girls are mostly in their teens, the youngest being 15. They will compete against some of the region’s best keelboat sailing yachtsmen, including those with over 30 years experience.

The participants are: Ahmad Faizal Ahmad, 16; Mohd Rashidee Shariff, 18; Sharizali Mohd Suhaimi, 24 (oldest); Mohd Rafee Nasaruddin, 18; Muhammad Issad Samdin, 15 (youngest); Ariff Abd Razak, 16; Yvonne Yap, 20; Khoo Teng Jun, 18; Cheang Seu Foong, 17; Ng Heng Li, 17; Muhamad Faiz Norizan, 16 and Ng Ai Li.

Most are individually national and regional youth sailing champions in their own right, having participated in and placed in the Optimist categories, Byte championships and in the Asian Games.

The youth are expected to take on 11 other competing boats in their class including those with much more regatta and offshore sailing experience, including 3-time and last year’s Raja Muda Cup winner Neil Pryde, on S/Y Hi-Fi with a fully-professional crew; Frank Pong, owner/skipper of S/Y Jelik and also Honorary Chairman of China’s sailing team and Vice Commodore Vincent Chan, on S/Y Matahari, who will have with him four national youth sailors, who incidentally were in the winning team in last month’s Monsoon Cup national qualifiers.

Other racing class yachts include two Royal Malaysian Navy boats, S/Y Zuhrah skippered by Lieutenant Commander Malik Sulaiman and S/Y Zuhal, whilst regional entries, S/Y Happy Endings with Jonathan Mahony as skipper and S/Y Foxy Lady with Bill Bremner are expected to provide stiff competition.

The racing class line-up includes also S/Y Lunchcutter II, S/Y Mandrake and S/Y Yo Mo.

Challenges ahead for the youth crew include trawling fishing nets, uncertain weather conditions with daily thunderstorms and strong tidal currents being forecasted off the Straits of Malacca.

The Raja Muda Regatta will begin its first race next Saturday and race 90 nautical miles overnight from Port Klang to Pangkor. On Monday, they will embark on the second leg of the overnight passage from Pangkor to Penang, spending two nights, before heading onto the third and last passage race from Penang to Langkawi on Thursday. The races around the Kuah Harbour in Langkawi on Saturday will represent tight racing ‘around the cans’, often determining the final make or break scores for the smaller, faster boats in the racing and cruising classes.

The ‘Raja Muda’ is the only Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) accredited regatta in South-East Asia and is one of the most tactically challenging races in Asia.

Boats race in seven different classes according to their hull size and pre-determined handicap. These are: racing class, premier cruising class, club cruising, multi-hull, non-IRC cruising, classic class and what organizers believe to be Asia’s only vintage class category, a first in the region, for boats built pre-1945.

To date, over 500 yachtsmen and approximately 48 yachts have registered. Boats are expected to arrive Port Klang in preparation for the regatta early next week.