Principal Race Officer Mark Pryke exclaimed conditions were "fantastic" at the close of the first race and said he was even considering a third foreshortened course for the racing classes. But a softening of the breeze in the afternoon precluded that and the two race sequences were completed by 1530.

The Racing class got off cleanly at 0930 on course 24 with an easterly wind at 10-12 knots. FULL METAL JACKET took an early tack to starboard with the others of the nine boat class heading landward. The start of the Sports Class was the most exciting with LONGTZE PREMIER nearly taking the paint off the Start Boat, PX 13, against of melee of yelling and nudging by the rest of the eight entrees. X CATRIOT led off a clutter of Multis and Fireflies which nearly had MOTO INZI painted on the side of Image Asia as the big Racers rounded the first mark.

Race Day One of the Royal Langkawi International Regatta was run in perfect conditions with a blustery 20-knot wind and only a slight chop in the Bay at Kuah. The early races in the morning were shaded by a cloudy overcast and participants not only finished smartly but with style on the 9, 10 and 12-mile up-wind down-wind courses.

The long down-wind run went swiftly with a mounting breeze which nearly proved too much for one of the Fireflies as it had to change-up to keep its port pontoon from submerging. JELIK, which was extending its lead, meanwhile decided to tour Langkawi's tourist island, Pulau Dayang Bunting, on the south side of the channel while the rest of the fleet kept to the north. MOTO INZI and TWIN SHARKS, her crew sporting pink tutus, fought for the lead in their class. A peak wind speed of 20 knots on the nose had participants hard put on the tough up-wind leg from Mark 3 but it didn't faze JELIK which maintained a commanding lead and crossed the finish a good 19 minutes ahead of everyone else.

Then the classes came in all flying their kites except for Navy 5 which had to retire due to a damaged bow. SOFA SO GOOD led the cruising boats as well as a number of other classes across and X CATRIOT won honours in her Multihull class. RAIMON LAND led the Sports Boats and MATA HARI beat LUNCHCUTTER II by a minute and PHOENIX by even longer, in the IRC Classes. The hard fought victory of TWIN SHARKS over MOTO INZI was decided by a one second difference at the finish and RAIMON LAND sailed in 10 minutes ahead of her group.

Finally the crew aboard Longtze Premimier were so rangy by their finish that the only lady on board, Siti, daughter of Affendy Abdullah of the National Sailing Centre, decided she’d rather swim across the line.

The committee flagged off the second series as soon as possible to take advantage of the still strong but edgy wind. The quick turn-around caught MY TOY with only two minutes between finish and new start but she did it with finesse. And JELIK again put the others well behind in a repeat of the morning’s series of courses. Most classes got away cleanly and the officials split up the Fireflies and Multihulls to avoid any further crushes. The race ran with out incident except for BABY TONGA 99 DEGREES bumping a mark and volunteering its own 720 degree penalty.

The wind, still out of the east, was falling toward the low teens as the fleet rounded the lower Mark 3 and began the long climb back up the channel. Although JELIK led, the rest of the fleet hung closer together this time as the first boats of four classes rounded the lower mark within seconds of each other.

X CATRIOT again led in the Multihulls just ahead of HIFI, second in for the Racers, and TWIN SHARKS pipped MOTO INZI by gibing just under her nose and sliding across seconds ahead. RAIMON LAND again won honours in Sports Class and feisty little Singapore #153 (SOFA SO GOOD) preceded a neck-and-neck finish by Club Cruisers RUSALKA and ELOISE. Finally, with winds failing, JANDI was last in at 1520.