Story by Charlie Fairweather, Photos by Scott Murray

A small group of intrepid racers managed to attend last year's return of the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta (RMSIR), after an enforced two-year gap due to covid travel restrictions. Thus, the organisers of the Royal Selangor Yacht Club were worried that 2023 event, set for November 17-25, would fail to return to pre-pandemic attendance records. As Malcolm Elliott (the wizard behind all technical aspects of this complex event) said much earlier this year, “We feel like an upturned turtle floundering on the beach waiting for a bunch of friendly sailors to come along and carry us back to the sea…”. 

They need not have worried though, because the attendance figures, though slow at first, have bounced back to a respectable level with still 60 days to go before race one starts. So, the turtle is beginning to feel the sea water yet again. International Race Officer will again be Simon James, squeezing this event in between the busy Thailand regatta schedule. The Raja Muda always starts just over two weeks before the Phuket King’s Cup, so that boats can spend a week to recover before heading north to Thailand.

Indeed, there are a few new boats coming, some all the way from Sydney, as well as the welcome return of the giants of class two; Shahtoosh and Yasooda. Class one racers include Team Hollywood and Ramrod back again, plus AfterShock making its way from Australia to join the fight for the Raja Muda cup. The class three IRC sees the usual mix of Malaysian and Singaporean boats which are closely matched and should produce some tough completion yet again.

The diehard bunch of non-IRC cruisers, the mainstay of this unique event, have a few new additions to promote some competitive racing, producing a good mix of new and old, including, as always, Millenium 2 and VG Offshore. Classic Cruisers always welcomes the Malaysian Navy in their trusty little Contessa 32, Marikh, this time competing against a Malaysian Polis sailing team, who had to cancel last year when a snap general election took the crew away. The century old Eveline will hopefully be joining again to add that air of history and elegance.

The new regatta chairman, Irsyad Ismail, has been busy on social media, organising new things to the all-important social calendar, plus adding additional goodies for crews, in the hope of seeing increased numbers. This regatta is unique in that travels up the west coast of Malaysia, consisting of multiple offshore legs, interspersed with harbour racing and prize giving dinners, at multiple venues along the course between Klang, Pangkor, Penang and Langkawi. This gives the crews, many of whom have not been sailing for a few years now, loads of opportunities to get together after racing, yet see different locations in the process. This is likely the reason why so many are keen to return to what many say is their favourite regatta in the region. There are also many new charter boats available this year for those who want to sample this event yet don't have their boat nearby. 

The website (www.rmsir.com) has, as usual, details of these, current entry lists and other details.

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