Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta 2018 – chalk and cheese on the water
by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia 21 Nov 2018 18:05 PST
RMSIR 2018. Penang Inshore Race. Three waterspouts © Guy Nowell / RMSIR
Sunshine, blue sky, fluffy white clouds and 15kts of breeze from the south? Surely something wrong there? The RMSIR Penang Inshores are usually baking hot for a couple of windless hours, and when the breeze arrives it is from the northeast if there in any pressure in the monsoon (infrequent) or a sea breeze from the west.
But there was some nasty-looking stuff when thefleet poked its collective nose corner – a threatening horizon that produced three waterspouts all at once, and then down came the rain. Blatting, driving, stuff that sent the majority of the onwater media scurrying for the relative dryness of the Committee Boat in preference to an open RIB!
And after the squall a calm patch and then just enough wind to send the cruising classes away on a triangular course with a reaching sausage thrown in across the top. Until, that is, a real buster arrived from the southwest bringing more rain, a 30kts blow and visibility of no more than 500m on some parts of the course, and whipping up a rolling, breaking sea. (Presumably the expression “in the teeth of a gale” refers to going upwind in an open RIB at 20kts or more, with rain driving in your face so hard that you can’t actually open your eyes.)
After the cruising classes started, there was a pause when the RO reorganised for the racing classes’ windward-leeward courses. Their first time round the track started in heavy rain, but quickly became was a pedestrian affair – and then they copped the buster, too.
At this point the media/safety boat was despatched to find one of the cruising class boats with a medical emergency on board and – quite literally – did not actually see any more racing by virtue of a) paying attention elsewhere, and b) near white-out conditions. Racing was abandoned after just one race. The results will have to be taken as stated, with no further commentary!
Short Results after 3 races (for full results please go to http://www.rmsir.com/27a/index.php/results)
Class 0: 1 Windsikher; 2 Ulumulu; 3 THA72
Class 1: 1 Mandrake III 1,2,1 (4); 2 Ramrod 3,1,2 (6); Windsikher 2,3,3 (8)
Class 2: 1 Janda Baik 1,1,1 (3); 2 Antipodes 2,3,2 (7); 3 Shahtoosh 3,4,3 (10)
Class 4: 1 Red Rum 2,2,1 (5); 2 Prime Factor 1,3,2 (6); Nijinsky 3,1,5(DNF) (9)
Class 5: 1 Iseulta 3,1,2 (6); 2 VG Offshore 2,4,3 (9); 3 Lady Bubbly 1,2,7(DNF) (10)
Class 6: 1 Marikh 1,1,1 (3); 2 Esperanza 2,2,5 (9); 3 Eveline 5,5,2 (12)
Class 7: 1 SHK Scallywag Fuku bld 1 (1); 2 Angela 3(DNF) (3)
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