LANGKAWI: National sailor Mohd Romzi Muhamad’s title hopes in the Laser Radial category at the Australia Open Sailing Championships in Adelaide, Australia were blown away by strong winds yesterday.
Romzi, who held onto second place until Race 8 and remained within striking distance of the leader on Saturday, unceremoniously slipped to eighth spot after 10 races were completed yesterday.
Another national sailor Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy also dropped from seven to 10th position amidst failure to capitalise on strong winds that reached 28 knots.
Malaysian Yachting Association (MYA) general manager Mohd Afendy Abdullah in an email to Bernama yesterday said the duo must make up in the two remaining races today.
Singapore’s Olympic sailor Koh Seng Leong however did not have any problem in maintaining his lead and looks set to sail away with the title.
In the International 420 category, Ku Anas Ku Zamil and partner Muhamad Hafizzudin Mazelan remained in 9th spot while national back-up sailors Khairunisa Mohd Afendy and Norashikin Mohamad Sayed maintained their 13th position.
Singaporean duo Liu Justin Xiamen and Cheng Shermen Feng Yuan continued their dominance in the category.
The premier sailing competition in Australia attracted 94 sailors from France, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia and Australia.
Malaysian sailors are competing in the championships as part of their preparations for the Asian Sailing Championships in China come March. — Bernama