Thrills and Spills in Langkawi
The 21st Royal Langkawi Regatta, held between January 20th and 25th, saw great racing across all the competing classes.
This year, the Multihull OMR division saw three stealths: Wow, Haruki, and Boreus, as well as a Firefly 28 Twin Sharks and Trident 28Ft Corsair. Great effort from all, as the fleet had to battle a couple of tough days to get there from Phuket, having 20knts on the nose for the rundown.
Recovery and preparations were made, and racing officially started on Tuesday. The conditions could not have been better over the week. Simon James and his team, Asia’s premier racing officer, set the first day’s course for two windward/ leeward inside the bay; a nice 10 to 15knt breeze settled in on flat water; this would be quick racing.
As the week unfolded, the fleets would get a bit of everything, from 10 to 25Knts. Racing was held inside and outside the bay, where it was a little more challenging for the smaller boats as the conditions tended to be a little lumpy. With one scheduled race around the islands that saw breeze gusting up to 30+knts.
The racing was tight, with the leaders changing daily.
After 9 races over 5 days, it all came down to the last day to decide who would walk away with the gold. 1 windward/leeward race saw Twin Sharks take Poll position.
The final race was the decider. A short island race would decide the placings. Haruki needed the win to take the overall win. Unfortunately for them, Twin Sharks got the jump, and the win for the day went to Twin Sharks, Haruki in 2nd and WOW 3rd.
2025 Royal Langkawi Regatta Multihull Class Results
Despite the fantastic racing all week and the after parties The Royal Yacht Club had catered, it was not all strawberries and cream for some.
On Friday the 24th, at roughly 11.30, the fleet was devastated to hear the call that Boreus had capsized.
On the 25-mile race around the island, Boreus is on a tight reach, coming down to the final turning mark for the upwind leg into the bay. A 30+Knt bullet came off the island and hit Boreus, giving them no time to respond. Boreus has capsized.
The first boat on the scene to offer assistance was the Malaysian Navy boat Uranus, which pulled out of its race, helped secure Boreas, and assisted the crew.
All crew members were OK, with only one member taken to the hospital with a suspected broken collar bone. Simon and his team quickly activated the rescue, and in a short time, the Malaysian Navy, Police and a Firefighting unit in the bay training were on the scene in no time. After a couple of hours of coordination, Boreas was righted at roughly 3 o’clock. The Boreas crew quickly jumped back on board and, with the help from the Navy, began the tidy-up faze. Boreas was towed to the ferry terminal for several hours to begin the pump-out process.
It was then decided around 6 o’clock to tow her to the Royle Langkawi marina, and at 8 o’clock, she was tied up on the dock and back sitting on her lines. Over the next few days, she was cleaned up, and preparations were made for the return trip to Phuket. Engines were serviced, an interim electrical system was installed, the rig and sails were checked, fridges were stocked, and she was now ready. Boreas motor sailed back into Phuket and arrived in good shape mid-Friday. One week after a day, the owner would gladly like to forget.
Asia Catamarans would like to acknowledge and thank Simon James and his team for their professional, quick response, as well as the Malaysian Navy, Police water unit, and Firefighting unit. Without their professional support, this could have been a very different outcome.
A huge thank you to the entire sailing community for coming together and supporting fellow sailors when they were in need. A special thank you goes out to Irish (Caran Corrigan), George Edddings, Rick Mojo, and Dave Hodge, who worked tirelessly to get Boreas ship shape. Your efforts were terrific.
Despite this one event, the 21st Langkawi Royal Regatta was a huge success, and we all look forward to more top-class racing throughout Asian waters in the future.
