As has become standard practice in the last three Raja Muda regattas, the Raja Muda Cup was decided on the final race by one point with Rolf Heemskerk’s The Next Factor edging out Ray Roberts’ Hollywood Samurai.
Nick Burns’ Blitz was third followed by Sarab Jeet Singh’s Windshikher, Steve McConaghy’s Aftershock and Ahmad behind Fakrizan bin Deraman’s Uranus, in the elite six-boat class.
Windshikher had a tough regatta as on the second last day they ran aground although no serious damage was done to the boat and on the final day, they had a mishap that saw half a dozen crew go overboard. All were recovered safely thanks to the help of Team Hollywood, who were granted six minutes on redress and the only thing damaged was the crew’s egos.
The 2023 event saw what was the closest ever Raja Muda Cup (Class 1) final in history, as Nick Burns’ Witchcraft defeated Rolf Heemskerk’s The Next Factor by just two seconds on corrected time in the final race and one second on corrected time in the penultimate race, winning the cherished Raja Muda Trophy by one point overall and giving Burns his fourth “Raja Muda” title.
In 2024, the tables were turned. Going into the final day, only three points separated the top three yachts, with Nick Burns now sailing Blitz leading Rolf Heemskerk’s The Next Factor by one point and Ray Roberts’ Hollywood Samurai by two points. However, Blitz was OCS for the start of the second race and this resulted in a close fought win on points for The Next Factor.
PRO Simon James gave class one (Racing) two windward-leewards on the final day while sending the other four classes (Premier, Sports, Club & Cruising) on an around-the-islands course through some strong winds, rough chop and tricky shifts behind some of the islands.
The two-boat Premier Class (class two) saw Peter Cremers’ sleek Shatoosh win all seven races, defeating RSYC Commodore Ramasamay Menon’s Rama Rama VG. The beautiful Warwick 75 repeated as the Jugra Challenge Cup winner, clinching its fifth title in this class.
The Dato’ Abdul Aziz Ismail Challenge Trophy was awarded to the winner of the three-boat Sports class (class three), and this year it was won by Singapore’s Lee Yi Min’s Jolt, who defeated Matt Whittingham’s Insanity by seven points and Amir Zohri’s Malabar by eleven points. Whittingham colourfully had a spinnaker made of him smoking a cigar, so he captured the award for artistic merit.
The Jeff Harris Challenge Trophy was awarded to the winner of the six-boat Club class (class four). It was captured by James Duke and his ebullient crew on Kimikimi. They defeated Keith Garry’s Beaux Espirits by three points, who in turn holds a three-point lead over Peter Jong’s Kesini. Rounding out the class were Maduzi with the Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah on board, Steve Manning’s Black Baza and Dennis Chan & Joon Ming’s Duan Duan.
The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Award was the prize for the six-boat Cruising Class (class five) and it was won by Dash by three points over Keith Miller’s Sade. Red G (formerly VG Offshore) skipped by Azlan was third, followed by Husaini bin Mohd R’s Marikh, Ken Yap’s Millennium and Yukinori Kirihara’s Lucky Marlin. By the way, Ken is usually the first person to register for every Raja Muda regatta.
Rear Commodore of the RSYC was aboard Beaux Espirits for this race while Past Commodore Dato’ Richard Curtis sailed on Rama’s Rama Rama VG making for a fun and interesting rival on the final, albeit in different classes.
Regatta Chairman Isyrad Ismail and Ms Chua Yee Ling, CEO of Tourism Selangor, gave out the awards for the Mun Wai Langkawi Harbour Series (Lee Mun Wai being a former committee who passed away in 2022). And then, to cap it all off the Raja Muda of Selangor, Tengku Amir Shah and RSYC Commodore Ramasamay Menon gave out the final overall series awards.
A huge shout-out must go to regatta coordinator Norhamizah “Miza” Amirudddin and ops supervisor Suffi. Moving this regatta, all its participants, their belongings, and all the equipment needed to keep the event running from Port Klang to Pangkor, Pangkor to Penang and finally Penang on to Langkawi is no easy task and Miza and her team do a fabulous job with the logistics of this event.
Finally, enough can’t be said for Technical Director Malcolm Elliott, the glue that holds the regatta together for the past 18 years – without his hard work, intelligence and improvisation it would be impossible for the regatta to run as smoothly as it does.
