Newcomers THA72 a big threat to Oi!

LANGKAWI: Australian team Oi! look to have hit a rough patch in the 15th Royal Langkawi International Regatta ( RLIR).

The Aussies came into the competition with a reputation as twotime winners – having won the 2014 and 2015 Racing class titles.

They are also one of two teams to race with the TP 52 – the highest level of racing yachts. The other is Thailand’s THA72.

But it’s newcomers THA72 who have taken the field by storm, notching up three wins in four races to lead the title chase with five points.

Oi! have been struggling for results, managing only third spots in Race One and Race Four and are way adrift from THA72 with 15 points.

With yesterday’s Race Five and Race Six being called off due to a lack of wind, Oi! are running out of time to close the gap on the Thais.

“The other TP 52 (THA72) has been very challenging. It is very fast given the circumstances and it is well-manned too,” said Oi! co-skipper Rolf Heemskerk.

“We made some little mistakes and the results haven’t swung our way.

“But it’s not over yet as we still have many more races to go. We just need a bit of luck and some wind ... we’ll keep fighting.”

The regatta’s principal race officer Simon James explained that the two races yesterday had to be called off as “we were una- ble to ensure that there’s a minimum wind speed of five knots”.

“We had to be fair to everyone as we have so many different racing classes. If the wind drops completely, some of those boats will be stuck at sea,” said James, who called off the race at 2pm.

“Today’s wind was all over the place.

“Every time we thought we had a little wind and could start, it died off completely.

“But it doesn’t throw us off track as we’ve already completed two days of racing ... with some classes having two races on both days.

“According to the rules, we just need two races to call it a series ... and five races for teams to discard their worst result.

“I’m confident we’ll get there, even though the weather forecast for tomorrow is pretty much the same as today.”

There will be two more days of racing – today and tomorrow – and if there is still a lack of wind, then the leaders in the respective classes will be declared winners.