The 16th Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) 2018 is set to kick off with a bang, with over 20 boats signed up to race in the highly anticipated annual sailing event from 8 to 13 January 2018.

Organised by the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC), the international regatta will see competitive sailors from Australia, France, Denmark, Japan, Great Britain, Russia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia vying for coveted trophies and prizes in seven classes: Racing, IRC 1, IRC 2, Club Cruising, Multihull, Ocean Rover and White Sail.

For Racing class, all eyes are on Don Whitcraft of THA72 from Thailand who won the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy in RLIR 2017. Other contenders include Vincent Chan of Mata Hari from Malaysia, who has won the LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy three years in a row is returning to defend the title; Niels Degenkolw of Phoenix from Denmark for the IRC2 class; Robert Van Paridon of Tantrum Too from Singapore in the Multihull class; Ramasamy Menon of VG Offshore from Malaysia for the Club Cruising class; Wulf Henning Lenz of My Toy from Australia in the Ocean Rover class and Woodor Jack Christensen of Linda from the USA in the White Sail class.

Teams will be competing for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy (Racing class), the Commodore’s Challenge Cup (Club Cruising class), the LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy (IRC 1 class), RLIR-IRC2 Challenge Trophy (IRC 2 class), as well as the Malaysia Multihull Challenge Cup (Multihull class).

The best team that demonstrates comradeship and fair racing, both on water and land, will be presented with the Tunku Abdullah Sportsmanship Award, a tribute to the late Founding Chairman and the first Commodore of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Almarhum Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman. The award represents the values for which the late Tunku stood for. The winner will be selected based on nominations and votes from all participating teams in the regatta.

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club General Manager Mr Tayfun Koksal said he was thrilled to see both new and returning entrants to the regatta.

“We are ready to welcome over 100 local and international sailors to the club for an exciting racing experience. The regatta has grown to become one of the key events in the Asian Yachting Calendar that is looked forward to by many seasoned sailors and novices alike who actively compete in the regional yacht circuits,” he said.

“We will get to witness some of the most talented sailors in action, and I am expecting a fierce competition at the upcoming regatta,” he added.

A series of social events such as the welcome dinner, overall awards presentation and closing ceremony have also been planned to ensure ample opportunities for socialising.

The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club is grateful for the continued support from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia, Malaysia Sailing Association and the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), as well as the commercial sponsors such as Langkawi Island Resort Sdn Bhd, ETIKA Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Permanis Sandilands Sdn Bhd), Win Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Giftportals), Tropicana Corporation Berhad and Cambridge Biotek Sdn Bhd.

The media partners are Sea Yachting, HOMME Production, TRAXXfm and RTM.

The Royal Langkawi 16th International Regatta is approved by the World Sailing (formerly known as ISAF) and Malaysian Sailing Association (MSA).

For more information on the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, kindly visit our website at www.langkawiregatta.com or contact Tayfun Koksal at tayfun@langkawiyachtclub.com. For enquiries pertaining to RLIR 2018, please contact the Regatta Secretariat at office@langkawiregatta.com.