Current scoreboard leader Hazwan Hazim Dermawan of Hazone Racing Team recorded eight wins in the second day of Liga Layar Malaysia (LLM), to finish the qualifying stage unbeaten in Langkawi.
At the opposide end, Mohd Karimi Bakar was unable to get his name on the board in his debut as skipper of Kedah Match Racing Team when they lost all their eight races today. There were a few close calls but experience gave their opponents the edge over the newcomers.
âIt was tough for us as all of my crew are first timers but this outing gave them a lot of experience and hopefully we could participate again in future editions of LLM,â Karimi said.
Hazwan and his team had to work hard for their wins, coming from behind in a few races and utilised their opponents’ mistakes to their advantage.
âWe made a few mistakes earlier in the day but managed to improve and lucky for us our opponents made more mistakes that gave us the wins,â said Hazwan.
Race officials had decided to add an extra set of round-robin races, with light and shifty winds in the first half of the day but improved in speed after lunch.
National sailor Mohamad Faizal Norizan and MSA Match Racing Team gave a good fight after yesterday’s dismal performance by winning five races out of eight. The 2014 Asian Games gold medallist is tied on points with Ishak Jab of RMN Match Racing Team and Harisfabillah Muhamat of Navy Only One, but remained in fourth place based on his overall round-robin performance.
Despite a mixed performance by each skipper, both Harisfabillah and Ishak also maintained their positions in second and third, respectively.
âThe wind was more consistent today, which helped us to plan our races better. My crew also found their rhythm so I hope to improve on that tomorrow,â Faizal said.
âWe made some tactical mistakes today, especially in our races against Hazwan and Harisfabillah where we were late in making decisions,â Ishak commented on his team’s performance today.
LLM Langkawi will continue tomorrow at the National Sailing Training Centre with the semi-final and final races.
Round-robin standings after 15 flights
Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (Perak Sailing Team) â 12-0
Harisfabillah Muhamat (Navy Only One) â 6-6
Ishak Jab (RMN Match Racing Team) â 6-6
Mohamad Faizal Norizan (MSA Match Racing Team) â 6-6
Mohd Karimi Bakar (Kedah Match Racing Team) â 0-12
