But exactly two months later, the sports class yacht, skippered by Briton Scott Duncanson, went on to win its back-to-back Rebak title in a record time.

Somtam Express shaved off its own record of 23'30 registered last year by four hours to finish the almost 120-nautical mile race in 19'30.

The yachts sailed off from Phuket at 1.30pm (Malaysian time) on Saturday and Somtam crossed the finish line, just off Rebak, which is one of the 99 islands surrounding the main Langkawi island, just after 9am yesterday.

"Somtam Express was on the receiving end of the tsunami, which hit Phuket on Boxing Day last year. But luckily, she was not badly damaged and only needed minor repairs," said Duncanson.

"We won in a record time this year because we had a downwind favourable condition for much of our journey. Besides that, I also have a very competent crew this year."

His crew members are Briton Andrew Ticker, South African couple Paul and Debbie Johnson and Australians Anthony and Ally Gates.

The Rebak Champagne Challenge is the prelude to the BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR), which begins tomorrow.

Somtam Express' victory in the Challenge yesterday will act as a booster for her crew to land the elusive RLIR sports boats champion's title.

In 2003, Somtam Express ran into difficulties in the Challenge and only sailed into Langkawi two days after the RLIR had begun.

Last year, it was the overwhelming favourite to be crowned champion, but was pipped on the final day of competition by the Royal Malaysian Navy's Kapal Diraja Pelanduk (KDP).

"Winning the Rebak title two years in a row is sweet but it is winning in the Langkawi Regatta that matters most," said Duncanson.

"After losing out in our first two years here, we believe that Somtam Express is going to be third time lucky."

Duncanson also said that competitive sailing in South-East Asian waters was not badly affected after the tsunami.

"Just three weeks ago, we were competing in a regatta at Phanga Bay in Thailand and the entries there were also encouraging," he said.

"Even in Phuket, most of the yacht owners, whose boats were not badly damaged in the tsunami, have continued to sail. It is only a few super-sized racing yachts that have left the area."