Raja Muda Regatta delays start to allow competitors to vote

SOUTHEAST ASIA'S YACHTING MAGAZINE VOL. 17 NO. 4, Nov 2022 - Jan 2023

The Malaysian government recently announced that the next

general election will be held on 19th November. This directly affects the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta as many participants, plus staff involved in the operations, will want to vote on that day, which is when Race 1 from Port Klang to Pangkor is scheduled. There- fore, the regatta committee plans to change the schedule of racing to have the start of race one at 16:00 (moved from 12:00) Sat 19/11/2022, so that people can vote on their way to RSYC to start the regatta.

Currently there will be no other changes
to the schedule, with registration on Thursday (the 17th) and Friday (the 18th), with the skip- pers briefing and welcome dinner on Friday as planned, although this is all subject to change. As Race one will obviously have a later cut-off time, the Pangkor dinner and prize giving will be later to allow for boats to arrive at Pangkor.

Because there may be some boats that cannot start race one, even with the delayed start time, there will be one discard given to the highest scored passage race (a new NOR will be issued amending Item 10.1). Race two onwards is still as per the current plan. We will be without the usual Marine Polis support until we get to Penang, but are currently working on alternative logistics.

The Competitors

Sailors from thirty countries will be competing for honours in Malaysia’s most prestigious regatta, including many familiar faces. Class one will see Sarab Singh’s and Nick Burns’ three-time winner Windsikher, a Welbourn 52, up against two Farr 40s:
Rolf Heemskerk’s The Next Factor (2019 winner), and Gordon Ketelby’s Ramrod. Steve Manning’s Red Rum One, an Archambault A40, and the Malaysian Navy’s Uranus, a DK 46 round out the class.

Class two sees Hans Rahmann’s Yasooda at 21.5m, with its Judel Vrolijk design, the longest boat in the fleet pitted against Simon Piff’s Firstlight, a Beneteau First 50; and YP Loke’s Eagle, a Hanse 588, another Judel Vrolijk design.

Class three has two Beneteau Firsts, John Kara’s Insanity & Dominic Liddell’s Venture sailing against Max Palleschi’s Prime Factor, an IOR Farr 40.

As we went to print, class four has Pang Kim Ann Daniel’s Mystic River, a Hanse 400e, competing against Lee Yi Min’s Silhouette, a Farr 40.7, along with Thomas Reckefuss’ Born in Fire, an X-99, and Laurence Rusiecki’s Rainbow Dream, a Lavranos.

Class five has six boats competing: MJ Logaa S’s Recca, a Beneteau First 45.4: Dato Alex Nah’s Virgo, a Hunter 49; Kamil Jonathan Muhiudeen’s Sinaran, an Irwin 52; Chris Mitchell’s Lady Bubbly, a Naut 40; Rama’s VG Offshore, a Dehler 38; and Zulkifli Radzi’s Hannakin, a Moody 37.8.

While class six has five yachts racing: Sophie Rahman’s Dash, a Yamaha 36; Ken Yap’s Millennium 2, a Hunter 326; Shah Azlan’s Tofan, a Westerly Storm 33; Mustakim Ros Saidi’s Marikh, a Contessa 32 OD; and Dato Richard Curtis’ storied Eveline, a gaff-rigged cutter.

Tremendous friendships and rivalries have developed over the three decades of racing and many sailors mark their calendar with the Raja Muda being the “can’t miss event of the year”.

This will be the first full-on Raja Muda since 2019 and it promises to be a good
one with the mix of passage and harbour races always a great test of nautical skill and endurance. The regatta highlights the three most well-known islands on the Malaysian west coast (Pangkor, Penang & Langkawi) and almost every regatta veteran has a tale or two to tell from these scenic hot spots.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the regatta, please email the committee at info1@rmsir.com

Raja Muda Regatta delays start to allow competitors to vote