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Several Firsts in Langkawi Regatta

There had been uncertainties over the event after the tsunami hit but the BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RYIR) will swing into action as scheduled for a third time in a row, promising another splashing show.

This year"s edition will witness several firsts.

For the first time, there will be a total of 15 Malaysian boats registered for the regatta. Last year, there were only six Malaysian boats.

Two youth teams have also confirmed their participation. They are the Kedah Sailing Association and Cempaka School Kuala Lumpur.

Japan will be making their grand debut this year. They will be joining other teams from Thailand, Singapore, England, Canada, Holland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

Yesterday, Commodore of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman confirmed that a total of 38 boats have confirmed participation for the races. And he expects the regatta to match last year"s figure of 57 boats before the Feb 27 deadline.

“After the tsunami tragedy, there was little hope that this year"s regatta would actually take off, to be honest. To my surprise, entries were still coming in after the disaster and we decided that we should carry on,” said Tunku Abdullah.

Last year, YO! clinched the Prime Minister"s Challenge Trophy for the second successive year after winning all five races under the class 1A premier racing category. They will be back to defend the title.The BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2005 is scheduled from 27th February 2005 to 5th March 2005. Kindly log on to www.langkawiregatta.com for further information and registration.

Kuala Lumpur 5/2/2005