LANGKAWI: One of the two Royal Malaysian Armed Forces teams competing in the Racing premier class of the Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) have been handed a lifeline and a helping hand from the most unlikeliest of sources, a rival team!
The Royal Malaysian Armed Forces Team sailing Uranus, almost had to pull out of competition after experiencing technical issues yesterday (Tuesday).
Uranus, skippered by Mohd Masyuri Rahmat, can now breathe a huge sigh of relief as they will now be able to resume competition after their rivals in the Racing class, Hollywood – Provezza – who are also in the lead – have come forward to help resolve the technical issue faced by the Malaysian team.
"After almost having to give up, I met with team Hollywood and they were very gracious by offering to lend a helping hand,” said Masyuri who was also proud of his team for persevering despite all the obstacles and challenges they have had to face. Uranus are currently third overall after two days of competition.
From three races that have taken place so far, they finished Race 3 and 5 in third place – though they were unable to finish Race 4 after enduring problems with their sail.
Third place is definitely good compared to the first day of competition yesterday (Tuesday) which saw them dead last out of five competing teams in the overall standing.
"They have the spare parts and have given it to us which enabled us to compete today. So what we can do is to finish strongly today by doing the best we can.
"Today we raced on the outskirts of the island. The wind conditions helped and our closest rival, SCS Janda Baik, are a formidable team because of their boat’s design and speed which is somewhat similar to ours.
"I did not have much choice but to go head-to-head against SCS Janda Baik to get a better placing. Things have not been easy as we lost our sail in Race 4 and their sail tore in Race 5.
"Overall, I can say that we have a very good team now, and regardless of what happens, they have shown that they are up for any challenge and are determined to finish the race, and this has spurred me on.”
Team Hollywood-Provezza, skippered by experienced Australian Ray Roberts, continue to lead the competition of the second day in the ‘East Coast’ area after winning all the races in the premier Racing class.
