Roberts has been busy preparing Evolution Racing for the Prime Minister's trophy title defence,"said Ahmad in a telephone interview from Langkawi.

"The battles ahead look promising with rivals in the likes of Hong Kong’s Frank Pong opting to field two boats, Jelik 3 and Jelik 5.

And the Hi Five skipper, New Zealander Neil Pryde, is equally enthusiastic in wanting to make amends."

The Malaysian challenge in the Racing Class will be carried on the Armed Forces yacht, Zuhal.

The regatta, the ninth in the series, will have a record 47 boats and more than 300 sailors from Asia, Europe and the United States competing in eight divisions.

Besides the Racing Class, there will be competitions in the IRC Class 1, IRC Class 2, sportsboats, multi-hulls racing, Hobie 16, club cruising and Ocean Rover.

Hobie 16 is a new event for 4.8m-long boats handled by two yachtsmen.

The other trophies at stake in the four-day challenge are the Commodore's Challenge Cup (club-registered cruisers), LADA-IRC Challenge Trophy (IRC Class), Langkawi Sports Trophy (sportsboat) and the Malaysian Multi-hull Challenge Cup.