Mandrake by a nose

Nick Burns and Fred Kinmonth's Mills 51 wins Lankawi's Raja Muda regatta in Malaysia

As the high noon showdown time approached, most yachts left the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club marina early to study the current direction and wind conditions on Bass Harbour. Five to eight knots of breeze saw the racing classes away with a lot of jockeying for position and covering tactics being employed up and down the fleet. In several classes the pointscore is to close to call and good results in these races will determine the overall class winners. The decision to score the passage races with double points that must be counted or can't be dropped sees quite a bit of juggling the points and much to the upset of some yachts have had to drop a first place in the harbour races.

Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings came to the fore today to pick up both race six and seven today. All eyes were on the clash between Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns Mandrake that narrowly led the pointscore and Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady that could execute an upset if the conditions suite. Foxy Lady claimed second place and Frank Pong's Jelik third, with Mandrake back in seventh place on race six. A hush descended on the media boat at the start of race seven as both RMN-Zuhrah and Mandrake were called over the line. As the boats were tightly packed, Bill Bremner decided to take the benefit of the doubt and returned Foxy Lady to the start line in case they were over early. The ever irrepressible Neil Pryde on Hi Fi took second place in race seven and Foxy Lady rebounded with a third placing but not enough to clinch the series. Mandrake's fifth placing was just enough to give the Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns owned yacht the overall IRC Racing title this year.

Jon Wardill's Australian Maid gave Andrew Findlay's Impiana a little luff off the startline which may have been the winning move at the end of the day. Although Australian Maid led Impiana by two points coming into the final race, Andrew Findlay's crew were expected to stage a late comeback. After leading by the proverbial mile the wind died out and the back markers closed right in, to look as if they may have completed the task. When handicaps were applied Jon Wardill's Australian Maid managed to beat Impiana by one second to lift the Premier Cruising trophy. It can't get much closer than that.

A third and first place in race six and seven today for Neil Ankorn's Farr 1104 Mat Salleh is enough to clinch the IRC Club Cruising title. Graham Lind's Sumatra finished with two second places which keeps them in second overall. Although Fatimi Afendi's Corina 11 dipped down the order in the final races they have done enough in the passage races to retain third place. Heinz Heyer's Super Duper first place in race six was a little too late to make an impression and finished fourth overall. Capt Fin's Miri Magic had the benefit of a new set of sails finally arriving in Langkawi and was very quick of the startline and up the windward beats to jump a place and finished fifth overall.

The Multihull Class saw Tony Roberts Tactical Directions win four out of five races and claim overall victory. Liam Nicholls bigger Gone with the Wind had to settle on second place after taking most of the line honours. John Mitchell's Merpati Putih came from Indonesia and although a far cry from being a racing boat competed in all the races to end up in third place.

First place today for John Ramsden's Elan 434 Sofa So Good was not enough to take the Non IRC Cruising title. Seventh place in the double points non discardable race one has been their downfall. Instead it is Mohd Hanif Husain's Royal Malaysian Navy crew onboard Marikh that sailed into first place overall despite scoring seventh place today. Gavin Welman's Rascal stayed in the points with a second place today to end up third overall.

Despite Dato' Richard Curtis's Bristol Cutter Eveline finishing with a first place after surviving a protest hearing, it is Simon Morris's Sirius 1935 that runs away with the inaugural Vintage Class title. Lindsey Stewart and Bruce Issel's Willow 11 have added to the fragrance and ended up third overall.

Results:

Pos	Yacht	Owner/skipper	Class		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
	IRC RACING
1	MANDRAKE	NICK BURNS/ FRED KINMONTH	1	A	6	6	1	1	4	7	5	23
2	FOXY LADY	BILL BREMNER	1	B	2	8	2	3	8	2	3	25
3	HI FI	NEIL FREDERICK PRYDE	1	A	8	2	5	4	6	4	2	26
4	JELIK	FRANK PONG	1	A	14	4	8	5	2	3	6	34
5	LUNCH CUTTER II	KEITH DUNN	1	B	4	10	3	6	12	5	4	38
6	MATAHARI	VINCENT CHAN	1	B	10	12	4	2	10	6	8	46
7	HAPPY ENDINGS	JONATHAN MAHONY	1	B	12	14	11	8	16	1	1	52
8	GAPURNA SWITCHBLADE	MIKE DOWNARD	1	B	16	16	6	7	14	10	10	69
9	ZUHAL	RMN / Lt HAMDAN B YAHYA	1	A	18	20	7	10	18	8	7	80
10	ZUHRAH	RMN / MALIK SULAIMAN	1	A	20	18	8	7	20	9	9	82
	IRC PREMIER CRUISING
1	AUSTRALIAN MAID	DR JON WARDILL	2		6	4	3		2	3		15
2	IMPIANA	ANDREW FINDLAY	2		2	2	4		10	4		18
3	STREWTH	GEOFF HILL	2		4	8	2		6	2		20
4	SHAHTOOSH	PETER CREMERS	2		8	10	1		4	1		23
5	YASOODA	HANS RAHMANN	2		10	14	5		8	7		37
6	RESOLUTION OF WHITBY	STUART / NEIL WILLIAMSON	2		18	6	9		12	6		42
7	BOLERO	ED VAN DEN HEUVEL	2		14	12	9		14	5		45
8	HELSAL II	DOUG SHIELDS	2		12	16	6		18	10		52
	IRC CLUB CRUISING
1	MAT SALLEH	NEIL ANKCORN	3		2	6	2	1	2	3	1	14
2	SUMATRA	GRAHAM LIND	3	KRA RAFFLES	6	4	1	2	6	2	2	21
3	CORINA II	FATIMI AFENDI	3		4	2	8	8	4	5	4	27
4	SUPER DUPER	HEINZ HEYER	3	KRA RSYC	8	12	3	3	8	1	5	35
5	MIRI MAGIC 1	ARIFFIN ABDUL AZIZ	3	KRA MIRI	12	10	4	4	10	6	3	43
6	MAS AYU II	DR EDWARD CHEAH	3		10	8	5	5	12	4	6	44
7	HAFFIMAN	MORTIN RINGVOLD	3	KRA RLYC	14	16	6	6	14	8	7	63
	MULTIHULL
1	TACTICAL DIRECTIONS	TONY ROBERTS	4		2	2	1		4	1		9
2	GONE WITH THE WIND	LIAM NICHOLLS	4		4	4	2		2	2		12
3	MERPATI PUTIH	JOHN MITCHELL	4		6	6	3		6	3		21
	NON IRC CRUISING
1	MARIKH	RMN / MOHD HANIF HUSAIN	5		2	4	4		8	7		18
2	SOFA SO GOOD	JOHN RAMSDEN	5		14	2	1		4	1		21
3	RASCAL	GAVIN WELMAN	5		8	10	2		2	2		22
4	SCIPIO OF PARKSTONE	GERRY BRYANT	5		6	18	3		12	8		39
5	NERO	BOBTAYLOR	5		4	14	13		10	13		41
6	CAVALIER	BRYAN LEVINGE	5		16	8	13		6	13		43
7	CHINOOK 1 OF HAMBLE	PAUL HOPKINS	5		10	12	13		20	3		45
8	INTRIGUE	DR IAN NICOLSON /	5		20	6	13		14	6		46
		GARY FOSTER
9	PAPRICA II	GRAHAM DIMMER	5	SUNSAIL	12	16	5		18	5		51
10	RAINBOW DREAM	SIMON PIFF	5		18	20	7		16	4		58
11	CARRIOCA	GRAHAM MILLER	5	SUNSAIL	22	22	6		24	9		74
12	TOMPA	JAMES GODWIN	5	SUNSAIL	26	24	8		22	10		80
	VINTAGE
1	SIRIUS 1935	SIMON MORRIS	6		4	2	2		2	2		12
2	EVELINE	DATO RICHARD CURTIS	6		2	8	1		4	1		16
3	WILLOW II	LINDSEY STEWART /	6		10	4	5		6	3		28
		BRUCE ISSEL
4	MYSTICO	SUYANI KASTURI	6		10	6	5		10	5		36