Raja Muda sails against backdrop of federal election

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This was the first time in history that the Raja Muda had a late scheduled start (4pm) due to the Malaysian federal election. For the initial passage race from Port Klang to Pangkor all yachts used the same start line with classes 1 (Racing IRC), 2 (Premier Cruising), 3 (Sports IRC), & 7 (Multihull OMR) grouped together for the first start and classes 4 (Cruising IRC), 5 (Cruising Non-IRC) & 6 (Classic non-IRC) together for the second start.

It’s pretty much a straight 90km shot across to Pangkor though the first group finished about 15km further along the course than the second group.

Due to the election, some yachts were unable to start on time, or unable to start at all. As such it was decided that all yachts could discard their worst performance of the three passage races, one of either race one, two or five.

For the first race, PRO Simon James set off the first warning signal at 3:55pm, and then did two rolling starts in five-minute sequence. All yachts were givenm a cut-off time of 6pm the following day. The good thing about a late start was the sailors did not have to deal with the stifling mid-day heat.

You can follow the paths of the boats on the yellow brick tracking system https://cf.yb.tl/rajamudaselangor22#
plus instant results at the results page :http://www.asianregattas.com/!RESULTS1/Rdis_Overal... , set up by Malcolm Elliott to get information to skippers and their friends as quickly as possible.

The Racing IRC class saw three-time winner Sarab Jeet Singh and his co-owner Nick Burns’ sail Windsikher, their Welbourn 52, to line honours with an elapsed time of 11:37:24, but when their handicap was factored in, they ceded first place to Rolf Hermskerk’s The Next Factor, a Farr 40, and the 2019 champion, ripped their main sail from luff to leach at about 4am, and were unable to repair her in the dark, but they were able to finish the race. Gordon Ketelby’s Ramrod, another Farr 40, and the Malaysian Navy’s DK46 Uranus rounded out the four-boat class, finishing third and fourth, respectively.

Summing up the race, Richard Latham, the main trimmer on Ramrod, said, “There was rain and off for about five hours with heavy showers for two. The breeze was oscillating between 20-30 degrees with the pressure constantly going up and down. If you stuck close to the shore at the beginning of the race you did much better.”

The three-boat Premier Cruising sees Hans Rahmann’s Judel Vrolik Yasooda at 21.5m the longest boat in the fleet, take first spot with an elapsed time of 12:50:24. Simon Piff’s Firstlight, a Beneteau First 50, was second and YP Loke’s Eagle, a Hanse 588, competing in its first regatta outside of Singapore placed third.

The five-yacht Sports IRC class saw Dominic Liddell’s Venture, a Beneteau First, with the Raja Muda on board take the top spot. Steve Manning’s Red Rum One, an Archambault A40, was first across the line, but ceded the victory to Venture on handicap. Raja Muda veteran John Kara and his yacht Insanity placed third. Two Farr 40s: Yi Lee Min’s Silhouette, and Max Palleschi’s Prime Factor placed fourth and fifth, respectively, filling out the class.

Steve McConaghy, the tactician on Venture, commenting on the wind, said, “We had breeze all the way, but it was quite shifty. We had 90 degree shifts three times. It looked like the gradient wind was going to hold from the northwest, but the easterlies prevailed.”

Cruising IRC has three yachts competing as Thomas Reckenfuss’ X-99 Born in Fire finished 20 minutes ahead of Pang Kim Ann Daniel’s Mystic River, a Hanse 400e. They were followed by Laurence Ruslecki’s Rainbow Dream, a Lavranos, who finished three hours later.

Cruising Non-IRC had four boats competing. As we went to print Rama’s VG Offshore, a Dehler 38, had finished. However, the other three boats in the class: Zulkifli Radzi’s Hannakin, a Moody 37.8; M J Logaa S’s Recca, a Beneteau First 45.4: Dato Alex Nah’s Virgo, a Hunter 49 were still racing.

The Classic non-IRC division had four yachts scheduled to race but Dato Richard Curtis’ Eveline, the famed gaff-rigged cutter, and Shah Azlan’s Tofan, a Westerly Storm 33, did not start. Of the two boats that did start, Mustakim Ros Saidi’s (Royal Malaysian Navy) Marikh, a Contessa 32 OD defeated Ken Yap’s Millennium 2, a Hunter 326.

Regatta chairman Jeff Harris’s Serendipity is the only boat in the Multihull OMR class, and was also still on the water. Jeff recently bought and refurbished the yacht in Thailand, and sailed her down from Phuket to compete in the regatta. Originally called Seekronghuk, it’s a Mark Pescott design and Mark Horwood build.

more news later as the first prizes get awarded and the crews prepare for Mondays race to Penang.

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