Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2026 - Day 4
by Royal Langkawi Yacht Club 24 Jan 00:55 PST
19-24 January 2026
Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2026 day 4 © Andy Leong / Clement Leong
Overview of conditions and racing
The fourth day of racing (Race Day 4) at the Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) 2026 resumed with prevailing easterly winds up to 25 knots and better visibility than the day before. Day three's(Race Day 3) northeasterly winds carried smoke from fires in Cambodia but shifting due east brought clear air. Morning calm threatened to affect today's Round the Island distance race but winds picked up early as the sun rose bringing record breaking times to multiple teams who have raced this course before. Today marked the arrival of distinguished guests Bayan/Ms Stephenie Step Stephen and Bayan/Ms Zeynep Sonmez of Turkish Airlines.
A few boats had technical issues but most were able to make it around the course with ease. Four boats had missed gates or NSC disqualifications as they cut corners through islands on the south side of the course - this has create a few protests by competitors. Trimaran Rapido had a rudder failure and had to retire early in the race.
Race Highlights by Class
Today's race 8 took place on the distance track around Langkawi's southern islands of Pulau Tuba,Dayang Bunting, and Singa Besar. Results here include the single distance race and overall standings at the end of day four. The long distance of this race means that close finishes are extra impressive. In some cases two hours of racing came down to just seconds of difference in corrected time after handicaps.
Racing Class
Alive showed off their distance performance today as skipper Duncan Hine and team powered to first with an impressive elapsed time of 2:00:01. The Next Factor came in second place with a corrected time just four and a half minutes behind. Blitz finished third place with a corrected time just a close minute behind.
Overall standings currently have Alive in first place with a score of 11. The Next Factor is a close second with 13. Blitz follows in third with a score of 15. Tomorrow's races will be teams' last chance to climb ranks.
IRC 1 Class
Just one minute of corrected time separated places one through three today. Char Chan took another first place with 49 seconds corrected time ahead of Mata Hari in second. Team Jolt finished just a single second behind Mata Hari to take third.
Overall Char Chan maintains their lead with a total score of 7. Mata Hari sits at second place with 15 and Team Jolt holds third place after their successful day with 22.
PSC IRC 2 Class
IRC2 saw a dramatic shift in finishes compared to previous days. PDRM Sailing Team / Red G skipper Muhd Izzad managed the team's 1st place finish. The Blue Angel came in 2nd with Dynamite just thirty seconds behind for 3rd place.
Overall, Dynamite maintains a strong lead with a score of 11. Phoenix sits in second with 15. The Blue Angel sits close behind at 16.
Club Class
Wind of Change took first again today with plenty of time to spare. Slipstream III skipper Rick Fielding managed an impressive comeback to take second place. First Light crossed the line first in elapsed time but took third in corrected time.
Three boats in Club class faced issues and could not finish the race. Marikh was unable to start. Dashand Black Bazza could not finish and had to retire with DNF.
Overall, Wind of Change continued their lead in first place with a score of 10. First Light still follows in second with a wider gap of 13. Kesini holds third place with 24.
Sportsboat Class
RSYC Racing Team came back from a DNF in the last race to take another first place finish. ATM Sailing Team took second. Team Benetau took third.
Overall, RSYC Racing Team sits in first with a score of 13. ATM Sailing Team is two points behind for second place with 15. Team FR is in third place with 18. All three of these teams have taken a single DNF/DNS which means discarding a team's worst race in final scoring might not affect these rankings.
Multihull Class
Multihull Class excelled in today's ideal conditions. Parabellum crossed the finish line first in just 01:35:09 elapsed. Skipper Dan Fidock said that takes 13 minutes off of their previous record on this course. WOW finished second and Haruki took third.
Rapido had to retire with a rudder problem and Boreas was unable to start the race.
Overall Parabellum broke their tie with Haruki today. Parabellum sits in first with a score of 12. Harukisits in second with 14 and WOW is close behind in third with 16.
Multihull Cruising Class
Serendipity skipper Jeff Harris maintained the team's lead in Multihull Cruising with another first place finish. North Star took second.
Overall Serendipity holds a flawless lead with a score of 6 with North Star in second at 12.
Looking ahead to Turkish Airlines Race Day 5
Day 5 returns the fleet to Kuah Harbour for more windward-leeward racing. Prevailing winds have held steady from the east.