Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010
anticipates more than 35 teams to participate in the regatta

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) has been receiving a steady flow of entries for the Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010 (RLIR 2010).

One of the teams that have confirmed their participation is Jelik II which will compete in the Racing Class. Jelik II will be skippered by Frank Pong who is an experienced Asian sailor well known among the the sailing fraternity.

In the RLIR 2008 and RLIR 2009, Pong’s Jelik was a strong contender in the Racing class and won second and third place respectively for the Prime Minister’s Challenge trophy.

“We are looking forward to the regatta in January and hope the committee will maintain the round-the-island race as we thoroughly enjoyed it. When you race in such beautiful places like Langkawi, you should have both round-the island and windward/leeward courses.

“In RLIR 2009, we raced with Jelik which is underpowered in lighter winds but Jelik II is more optimised for light winds and should do much better in RLIR 2010,” said Pong in an interview. Pong’s 22 crew members hail from Malaysia, Hong Kong and The Philippines.

The Royal Malaysian Navy has also confirmed three entries for RLIR 2010; Zuhal in the Racing class, Musytari in the Club class and Navy 1 in the Sports class.

Meanwhile, RLIR 2010 Race Committee Chairman Ahmad Zailani Bashah said the committee has received many enquiries from interested participants.

“We expect more than 35 teams to participate in RLIR 2010. Entries have started coming in since June this year and we expect the participation to increase in November and December.

“We expect more entries in the IRC class for the RLIR 2010. The race committee also hopes that the Firefly One design catamaran will make a comeback for the regatta,” he said.

The RLIR 2010 will be held from 8 - 15 January 2010 with races held from 11 - 15 January 2010 at the RLYC. The event will see several categories of racing namely the Racing class, IRC class, Sportsboats, Multihulls and Club Cruisers.

Weather conditions in Langkawi during the race are expected to be ideal for racing with wind speeds of between 12 - 20 knots forecast for the period.

The secretariat will maintain the round-the-island race introduced last year due to its popularity among the participants.

Apart from the usual windward/leeward courses, new and challenging courses are also being designed for RLIR 2010.

The RLIR 2010 is the eighth regatta to be held by the RLYC consecutively since the inaugural event in 2003. Already part of the Asian Regatta Calendar, the event has for the last seven years been drawing regular boats as well as new participants who actively race in regional yacht circuits.

Teams participating in the RLIR 2010 will compete for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy (for participants of internationally registered yachts), “LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy” (for participants of the IRC Class), Langkawi Sports Trophy (for participants in the Sports Boat Class), the Malaysian Multihull Challenge Cup (for participants under the Multihulls category) and Commodore’s Challenge Cup (for participants of club-registered cruisers).

This year, as a tribute to the Founder Chairman and 1st Commodore of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Almarhum Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah, the RLIR introduced the “Tunku Abdullah Sportsmanship” award for the best team, both on water and land in the RLIR 2009.

The award will be given out again for RLIR 2010 and represents the values for which the late Tunku stood for. The winner will be chosen from nominations and votes from all participating teams in the regatta.

One of the sponsors for RLIR 2010 is CORUM. Established in 1955 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, CORUM has always taken pride in being a refreshingly different and forward thinking Swiss manufacturer.

The logo, a key pointing skywards is a symbol of the enigma to be resolved, of new territories to be explored and of innovation. It also alludes to the inventiveness and tenacity required in order to attain the total mastery of time. CORUM’s outlook is summed up in the invigorating mantra of UNLOCK AND CONQUER.

Other sponsors include Petronas, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysian Yachting Assocation, Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), Permanis, KFC, Guinness Anchor Berhad and media partners Asia Pacific Boating, Yacht Style and SEA Yachting.

For further information, Race Schedule and Entry Form, kindly log on to www.langkawiregatta.com or contact En Zack at zack@langkawiyachtclub.com

Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010 anticipates more than 35 teams to participate in regatta

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) has been receiving a steady flow of entries for the Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2010 (RLIR 2010).

One of the teams that have confirmed their participation is Jelik II which will compete in the Racing Class. Jelik II will be skippered by Frank Pong who is an experienced Asian sailor well known among the the sailing fraternity.

In the RLIR 2008 and RLIR 2009, Pong’s Jelik was a strong contender in the Racing class and won second and third place respectively for the Prime Minister’s Challenge trophy.

“We are looking forward to the regatta in January and hope the committee will maintain the round-the-island race as we thoroughly enjoyed it. When you race in such beautiful places like Langkawi, you should have both round-the island and windward/leeward courses.

“In RLIR 2009, we raced with Jelik which is underpowered in lighter winds but Jelik II is more optimised for light winds and should do much better in RLIR 2010,” said Pong in an interview. Pong’s 22 crew members hail from Malaysia, Hong Kong and The Philippines.

The Royal Malaysian Navy has also confirmed three entries for RLIR 2010; Zuhal in the Racing class, Musytari in the Club class and Navy 1 in the Sports class.

Meanwhile, RLIR 2010 Race Committee Chairman Ahmad Zailani Bashah said the committee has received many enquiries from interested participants.

“We expect more than 35 teams to participate in RLIR 2010. Entries have started coming in since June this year and we expect the participation to increase in November and December.

“We expect more entries in the IRC class for the RLIR 2010. The race committee also hopes that the Firefly One design catamaran will make a comeback for the regatta,” he said.

The RLIR 2010 will be held from 8 - 15 January 2010 with races held from 11 - 15 January 2010 at the RLYC. The event will see several categories of racing namely the Racing class, IRC class, Sportsboats, Multihulls and Club Cruisers.

Weather conditions in Langkawi during the race are expected to be ideal for racing with wind speeds of between 12 - 20 knots forecast for the period.

The secretariat will maintain the round-the-island race introduced last year due to its popularity among the participants.

Apart from the usual windward/leeward courses, new and challenging courses are also being designed for RLIR 2010.

The RLIR 2010 is the eighth regatta to be held by the RLYC consecutively since the inaugural event in 2003. Already part of the Asian Regatta Calendar, the event has for the last seven years been drawing regular boats as well as new participants who actively race in regional yacht circuits.

Teams participating in the RLIR 2010 will compete for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy (for participants of internationally registered yachts), “LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy” (for participants of the IRC Class), Langkawi Sports Trophy (for participants in the Sports Boat Class), the Malaysian Multihull Challenge Cup (for participants under the Multihulls category) and Commodore’s Challenge Cup (for participants of club-registered cruisers).

This year, as a tribute to the Founder Chairman and 1st Commodore of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Almarhum Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah, the RLIR introduced the “Tunku Abdullah Sportsmanship” award for the best team, both on water and land in the RLIR 2009.

The award will be given out again for RLIR 2010 and represents the values for which the late Tunku stood for. The winner will be chosen from nominations and votes from all participating teams in the regatta.

One of the sponsors for RLIR 2010 is CORUM. Established in 1955 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, CORUM has always taken pride in being a refreshingly different and forward thinking Swiss manufacturer.

The logo, a key pointing skywards is a symbol of the enigma to be resolved, of new territories to be explored and of innovation. It also alludes to the inventiveness and tenacity required in order to attain the total mastery of time. CORUM’s outlook is summed up in the invigorating mantra of UNLOCK AND CONQUER.

Other sponsors include Petronas, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysian Yachting Assocation, Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), Permanis, KFC, Guinness Anchor Berhad and media partners Asia Pacific Boating, Yacht Style and SEA Yachting.

For further information, Race Schedule and Entry Form, kindly log on to www.langkawiregatta.com

or contact En Zack at zack@langkawiyachtclub.com