Raja Muda Selangor Int Regatta - absolutely as good as it gets

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 11 Nov 2010
Most sailors in the Asian region are pretty much familiar with the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta by now – it describes itself as ‘a challenging offshore sailing race… consisting of three overnight passage races, some 240 miles in total, plus two days of harbour racing in Penang and Langkawi. With regatta dinners almost every night, a trishaw race and lots of opportunities to socialise, onshore activities can be just as demanding as the sailing’.

That’s very much the short version. The ‘Raja Muda’, as it known to all and sundry, is the Asian regatta that stands out from all the others by virtue of being thoroughly, irrepressibly and delightfully different.

Each of those three passage races (Port Klang to Pangkor, and then on to Penang and finally Langkawi) invariably end up giving all crews a very testing work-out both in terms of weather conditions encountered (anything from light-and-shifty through to blowing-old-boots, with quick and dirty tropical squalls to contend with), and in endurance – each race is long enough to keep all the boats sailing through the night, but not long enough to drop into a rotating watch system. Three very long sprints, in effect. And then there are the tactical and navigational challenges to cope with, from the notorious rounding of the Kra Bank on the way into Penang to the ever-taxing decision to ‘stay in’ towards the coast or ‘go out’ looking for offshore breeze – neither option carries any guarantees. Not for nothing has the event long billed itself as ‘Asia’s most challenging regatta’.

Throw into the programme the two days of cans racing in Penang and Langkawi, and the mix is a severe test of racing crews at both ends of the speed scale. And don’t forget the parties and prizegivings – they contribute not only a huge amount of fun, but have also been known to affect racing performances! This is not a quick trip round the cans and back to the bar – it is nine days of hard work that demand a great deal of application from all competitors. Sitting in the bar at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club on the eve of the final day’s racing in 2008 I heard one seasoned salt sigh, ‘I’m exhausted.’ His crewmate’s reply was ‘hang in there, only one more day of the marathon to go…’

The Raja Muda attracts a large variety of yachts, with over 60 participating in last year's 20th edition, from IRC1 racers to slow classic cruisers dating back nearly 100 years, all of whom had to battle through good winds and rough seas during the week-plus day mix of races past tropical islands. The regatta was inaugurated in 1989, aimed at ‘catching’ race boats going north to the Phuket King’s Cup in Thailand, and showing off some of the exceedingly pleasant scenery that they would otherwise sail straight past. But it quickly became established as a Blue Riband event in its own right, and has had many competitors coming back year after year for almost all of its 20-year history. 2010 sees the 21st running of the Raja Muda – it really has ‘come of age’.

There are 36 entries signed sealed and registered to date, including three TP52s (Strewth, FreeFire, Jelik 5), EFG Bank Mandrake, Kinmonth/Burns’ newly-acquired Mills 40.5 that performed brilliantly in the Commodores’ Cup in Cowes in August, and of course Frank Pong’s RP76 Jelik 3 – the boat to follow, if you can!

Among the ‘furniture’ division, doing it in style but with no less application, the list includes Dr Ian Nicholson’s Dubois 80, Intrigue, and Hans Rahmann forsaking his Firefly 850 for the slightly larger Yasooda. Two Ker 11.3s, Kukukerchu and Koull Baby, will be arguing the toss at the shorter end of the racing classes, and perennial competitors such as Australian Maid, Mat Salleh, Rapscallion and Rainbow Dream will all be on the start line on 20 November.

There’s a slight alteration in the programme this year, with the fleet harbouring at the new Pangkor Marina at the end of the first passage race, instead of the picturesque (but sometimes less-than-perfect) anchorage in front of the famous Seaview Resort – so let’s see what the new venue has to offer. Can it cope with a very thirsty fleet, and will it serve deep fried egg breakfasts? – the only way to find out is to be there!

If you’ve never raced the Raja Muda, you owe it to yourself to do so: there’s a Crew Wanted section on the website (www.rmsir.com) and plenty more information besides. Sail-World.com will be on the race track for the duration, and we’ll be posting race reports and photos here on Sail-World Asia and the Raja Muda website as well. If you can’t get there in person, follow one of Asia’s very best sailing events on the web.

See you in Port Klang, at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club!