MultiHull Report On The 2005 Royal Langkawi Regatta

Created by doina. Last modified on 2005-07-24 09:33:01
Contributors: Bob Mott, Phuket
Topic: Rallies
Countries: Malaysia

The third Royal Langkawi Regatta was once again hosted by the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and BMW. Numbers were down to 47 entrants, not unexpected after the recent December 26th Tsunami.

A sensible decision by the organizers bringing the regatta forward to early March, and into the more dominant monsoon wind and weather patterns, paid off with constant breezes giving excellent sailing conditions. The BMW Langkawi Regatta is notable as the only regatta in Asia conveniently operating out of a marina, with all entrants returning each afternoon to their own berths. A new addition is the introduction of a lay day, breaking up the four days of racing giving participants the chance to relax and enjoy some sightseeing on the island.

Altogether nine multihulls turned up allowing two divisions - racing and cruising.

The competing racing division Multihulls were: F-31 a Farrier 31 trimaran representing the Royal Selangor Yacht Club Malaysia Port Klang. Owned and skippered by Tunku Nazim from Malaysia. Nazim made it up from Port Klang and, having no other multis down his way, had never before raced in company with another multihull. Hopefully Tunku Nazim can make it back next year. This year was a shake down run so better things are expected of him next year. Charro a Mark Pesscot 10.6m design cat representing ACYC Ao Chalong Yacht Club Phuket – Tim Milner, owner/skipper. Charro grabbed a number of line honours wins and an overall 2nd at the recent Kings Cup Regatta in Phuket.

Chakra – a 15.2m Schionnings cat representing ACYC Phuket owned by Frank Cusack and skippered by Todd Ekert. Chameleon a 14.4m Cyber cat designed by Tim Mumby representing ACYC Phuket skippered and owned by Bob Mott. Chameleon was in full charter trim when she arrived, but the charter gear was shed so She could be snapped into racing mode. She would be one of - if not the only - purpose designed cruising charter cats that can play the two roles successfully. No Fixed Address a 11.7m Shaun Arber design cat representing ACYC Phuket. Skippered and owned by Brent McInnes. No Fixed Address used to be called Spirit of Cairns and was a competitor back in 1988 in the Round Australian Bicentenary Race.

Cruising Division Multihulls: Sedna a Dean 13.4m design cat representing RLYC owned by Joan Foo Mahony. Lighten Up a 13.9m Kurt Hughes design cat representing ACYC Phuket built in Phuket and skippered by Bill and Ju Eby. Kilo a 14m Cyber design cat by Tim Mumby representing ACYC Phuket owned by Chris Sieber. Kilo is an older design a bit shorter than the newer versions but still a fast machine. Escape a 11.58m Lagoon catamaran owned and skippered by Robert Walter Stone from Canada.

This year the wind gods were certainly in a good mood, giving ever increasing winds over the four racing days. The fleet saw building wind strengths building reaching 23 knots on the course of approximately 11 miles by the third day. Two races were completed on the first day with a shortened course on the second race due to lightening conditions around midday. The fourth day was set aside as a lay day for a break from racing and the opportunity to see the sights on Langkawi Island. Race 4 on Friday saw an increase in wind strengths to a constant 23 knots over the course. The multis were flying and the order of the day for most was spinnakers in the water.

Saturday saw easing conditions down to around 20 knots once again allowing for a quick completing of the days circuit. The final presentation party was held at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and again attended by former Malaysian Prime Minister, Y.A. Bhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a patron of both the regatta and the yacht Club. His presence the last two years has emphasized the importance of the event to Malaysia, and in particular his favourite island Langkawi.

All concerned with Multihull racing in the area are working towards having an ever-increasing fleet of competitive racing cats. To that end Mark Pescott is building a number of Firefly’s with an extensive use of carbon fibre and a number of lightweight Whitehaven designs. Broken Ribs and Voodoo Child will soon be launched in Phuket. Contact Mark for information on mjpescott@phuketinternet.co.th .

Adding to the production in Thailand is the partnership between Frank Cusack and Bob Mott bringing about an increase in alloy cruising come-charter-cats with performances much the same as Tim Mumby's Cyber designs, Chameleon and Kilo. These newly designed 15.4 metre (50 foot 6 inch) alloy performance ocean cruising cats will be a collaboration between Frank, Bob Mott and Des Dunstan, an Australian Naval architect from Perth. It will go into production in Thailand around September and will be built out of a new alloy called Sealium. Sealium is a new version alloy made in France and is 15% stronger in the weld areas with much better corrosion resistance. The new cats will be named Silkline 560s. Keep an eye out for them.

They will be fast, robust and practical cats for those who want to sail, not motor, when they cross oceans. Their light to medium wind performance will be impressive. They will not be lacking in any way and will have all the amenities and equipment aboard for a turn key getaway. Contact Bob on marineware@loxinfo.co.th . The interesting thing is Chameleon is the heaviest of the six Cyber designs launched so far, while Tim’s cat Cyber is the lightest by far, with the best sailing potential of them all. Cyber is on the market at the moment now, located just north of Brisbane in the Caboulture River near Monty’s Marine Park. You can email Tim at cyberyachts@yahoo.com.au for more information.

So, BMW, take note: there are a bunch of new kids (cats) on the block in numbers that will add colour and spice to any regatta. Multihulls should get the recognition they deserve, not just the racing Monohulls, consistently outnumbered each year at the BMW Langkawi Regatta. Not a good idea to have all your eggs in one basket – there is a much better chance of them getting broken in a Monohull!

For those who cannot get their multis up here, there are a number of charters and join-in individual crew spots available. Quite a few multis and monos were chasing crew this year. Charro was one, and had to go out short-handed. So look us up on www.far-away.net www.asian-sailing.com and www.sunsail.com and on the crew available and crew needed lists on www.langkawiregatta.com pages. Entry prices are still a low 150AUS$ with two party tickets included – not to mention the marina berth, power and water that are provided complimentary for 8 days.

The next regatta scheduled on the west coast is Phuket Race Week to be held over 4 days the end of July. Please visit www.phuketraceweek.com for details. Good sailing hands will also be required for that regatta. Chameleon, Kilo and Mozart (Chameleon’s sister ship) will be out there again along with a number of Pescott cats including his soon to be launched Firefly. We are also expecting to see the Schionnings Coco Blues down from Samui. Competition will be close and tough between the vastly different multis in the fleet. A number of cats will be available for charter. They are listed on the Phuket Race Weeks website. Individual are also welcome. So until the next regatta stable sailing!

Bob Mott, Phuket