Sorry, i missed getting the captions for each of the photos before posting them.
1. Pewter on the move. Taken by a fellow yachtie just at the start of the race. Almost becalmed.
2. The rest of the fleet, waiting for the wind to pick up, just after crossing the starting line.
3. The coil of fishing net that was caught in our propeller.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
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Friday, October 16, 2009
Borneo Yacht Race
The Borneo Sailing Regetta is an annual event and we decided to take part this year as we're in Borneo. This is our first yacht race.
The race started in Miri, Sarawak , sail to Labuan and then to Kota Kinabalu, a week of fun for most of us in cruising yachts. There were only 5 serious racers, one sailed all the way from Manila to take part. The rest of the fleet composed of cruising yachts. There were 25 cruisers ( monohulls and multihulls ).
We're placed in the Cruising Class B. Class A was for the more serious, lighter weight cruisers. Class C for the truly heavy boats, then a multihull class. Each class had about 6 -7 boats.
We started from Miri on the 11 October. Weather forecast given to us before the start was for SW winds, 10 -15 knots ( 1 knot is 1 nautical mile / hour ) By the time our turn came to cross the start line, just outside Miri Marina, the wind died! Most of the boats barely manage to cross the starting line. 15 minutes after the start, cruising boats were allowed to start their engines and all the boats with huge engines took off. They dissappeared into the horizon. There were less than 10 boats that struggled to sail in 5 knots of wind. We took 5 hours to sail 10 miles and we did motor 2 of those hours. We had some problems with our engine and it was heating up and did not want to risk damaging the motor which could happen if we motored for too long and too fast. We had to cover 105 nautical miles ( nm) in less than 26 hours to reach the finish line in Labuan. This meant that we had to average 4+ knots to get to the finish line. There was hardly any wind for the first 8 hours and when the winds did come, it was blowing from the front of the boat, a NE instead of the forecasted SW. So much for the weather forecast. We had to tack all the way to Labuan. Tacking meant that we could only sail at an angle to the wind and was therefore unable to lay the required course. It also meant that we had to sail more miles to reach our destination. We sailed over 150 nm and took 35 hours!. We're the last boat into Labuan
and of course we failed to make the finish line on time and was disqualified. One of the boat motored 19 out of the allowed 26 hours in order to cross the line in time. With that amount of motoring, one could hardly call this race a sailing regetta! Had they allowed a more realised time to complete the race we would have been 3rd at least as we only motored less than 5 hours. More than 50 % of the boats failed to complete the race. In both the multihulls and Cruising Class C, only 1 boat in each class completed the race. In our class only 3 out of 7 crossed the finish line. Even in the racing class, only 50 % completed their race. The organisers should have had taken into consideration that most boats are unable to averge 4+ knots especially if there was no winds or that the winds were from the front of the boat.
The next leg started the following day, a 65 nm sail to KK . We had to complete the race in less than 24 hours, a more realised time frame. In this leg, all the boats finished. Again it was no wind start, all the boats milling around the start line for the first hour. When the winds came, it was a strong NW 10 -15 knots. Beautiful sailing breeze, all the boats on their favourite tack ( a beam reach ), with the wind from the side of the boat. We covered 40 nm in less than 9 hours.
10 miles from the finish line, we has a nasty encounter with a fishing net. At midnight we sailed through a fishing net laid of the surface. the net was caught on our propeller and rudder. Sheared off our depth sounder as well. Had to wait for the fishermen to come to cut the net. They were most reluctant to cut the net as they were afraid of their boss. After almost 3 hours of trying to free the net, they finally decided that the net had to be cut and they asked us to pay for the net. They wanted 500RM. In the end we managed to reduce the amount to 100 RM. It was hard to argue with 3 young fishermen waving their parangs around in our cockpit. After they cut the net ,we sailed off with a piece trailing from the stern. With no engine and no speed, we could not raise the main sail. We used only the jib and crossed the finish line just before dawn. Last in again, the rest had crossed the finish line by 2 am.
Again because we only motored less than 4 hours we managed to come 2nd in our division. The rules said that any boat that motored more than 20 % could not beat a boat that motored less.
There were 2 very exciting harbour races round buoys the following day. Quite scary when all the boats are milling around the start line. Each category started at 5 minutes intervals so at the start line one had to dodge the slower boats that started before the next group. One of the multihulls lost control of the jib rope at the start line and started to drift backwards. Our class that were starting 5 minutes later were all crossing the start line when she drifted towards us. She hit the committee boat. Thank goodness, we're lucky to be at the other end of the committee boat. After we're rounding one of the marker buoy, a boat was heading towards us. She was to give way but she was not going to do so. In the end we had to bear away and had to make an emergency gibed to get away from her. Didn't think I wanted to damage our boat. The race official told that skipper off after the race when Leo complained. Gosh there was lots of adrenaline flowing in out bodies. It was extremely exciting and nerve racking as well. It was a good finish to a good regetta. We managed to take the 3rd spot in the harbour races as well despite crossing the line last again..
The organising committee truly put on a fantastic regetta. We had 4 night free accommodation in 5 stars hotels, 7 nights free marina berths, lots of dinners and teas, a trip to a longhouse. The main prize for us yachties was the 1000 RM ' participant ' reward. All the boats received that. Some of the boats that did not participate in the harbour races were only given 500RM. They were not too please but they had to realise that they could not receive the money if they did not participate in all the events. Last year the committee foolishly handled the money out before the race and 2 yachts took the money and disappeared. That's in not in the spirit of participation.
The race started in Miri, Sarawak , sail to Labuan and then to Kota Kinabalu, a week of fun for most of us in cruising yachts. There were only 5 serious racers, one sailed all the way from Manila to take part. The rest of the fleet composed of cruising yachts. There were 25 cruisers ( monohulls and multihulls ).
We're placed in the Cruising Class B. Class A was for the more serious, lighter weight cruisers. Class C for the truly heavy boats, then a multihull class. Each class had about 6 -7 boats.
We started from Miri on the 11 October. Weather forecast given to us before the start was for SW winds, 10 -15 knots ( 1 knot is 1 nautical mile / hour ) By the time our turn came to cross the start line, just outside Miri Marina, the wind died! Most of the boats barely manage to cross the starting line. 15 minutes after the start, cruising boats were allowed to start their engines and all the boats with huge engines took off. They dissappeared into the horizon. There were less than 10 boats that struggled to sail in 5 knots of wind. We took 5 hours to sail 10 miles and we did motor 2 of those hours. We had some problems with our engine and it was heating up and did not want to risk damaging the motor which could happen if we motored for too long and too fast. We had to cover 105 nautical miles ( nm) in less than 26 hours to reach the finish line in Labuan. This meant that we had to average 4+ knots to get to the finish line. There was hardly any wind for the first 8 hours and when the winds did come, it was blowing from the front of the boat, a NE instead of the forecasted SW. So much for the weather forecast. We had to tack all the way to Labuan. Tacking meant that we could only sail at an angle to the wind and was therefore unable to lay the required course. It also meant that we had to sail more miles to reach our destination. We sailed over 150 nm and took 35 hours!. We're the last boat into Labuan
and of course we failed to make the finish line on time and was disqualified. One of the boat motored 19 out of the allowed 26 hours in order to cross the line in time. With that amount of motoring, one could hardly call this race a sailing regetta! Had they allowed a more realised time to complete the race we would have been 3rd at least as we only motored less than 5 hours. More than 50 % of the boats failed to complete the race. In both the multihulls and Cruising Class C, only 1 boat in each class completed the race. In our class only 3 out of 7 crossed the finish line. Even in the racing class, only 50 % completed their race. The organisers should have had taken into consideration that most boats are unable to averge 4+ knots especially if there was no winds or that the winds were from the front of the boat.
The next leg started the following day, a 65 nm sail to KK . We had to complete the race in less than 24 hours, a more realised time frame. In this leg, all the boats finished. Again it was no wind start, all the boats milling around the start line for the first hour. When the winds came, it was a strong NW 10 -15 knots. Beautiful sailing breeze, all the boats on their favourite tack ( a beam reach ), with the wind from the side of the boat. We covered 40 nm in less than 9 hours.
10 miles from the finish line, we has a nasty encounter with a fishing net. At midnight we sailed through a fishing net laid of the surface. the net was caught on our propeller and rudder. Sheared off our depth sounder as well. Had to wait for the fishermen to come to cut the net. They were most reluctant to cut the net as they were afraid of their boss. After almost 3 hours of trying to free the net, they finally decided that the net had to be cut and they asked us to pay for the net. They wanted 500RM. In the end we managed to reduce the amount to 100 RM. It was hard to argue with 3 young fishermen waving their parangs around in our cockpit. After they cut the net ,we sailed off with a piece trailing from the stern. With no engine and no speed, we could not raise the main sail. We used only the jib and crossed the finish line just before dawn. Last in again, the rest had crossed the finish line by 2 am.
Again because we only motored less than 4 hours we managed to come 2nd in our division. The rules said that any boat that motored more than 20 % could not beat a boat that motored less.
There were 2 very exciting harbour races round buoys the following day. Quite scary when all the boats are milling around the start line. Each category started at 5 minutes intervals so at the start line one had to dodge the slower boats that started before the next group. One of the multihulls lost control of the jib rope at the start line and started to drift backwards. Our class that were starting 5 minutes later were all crossing the start line when she drifted towards us. She hit the committee boat. Thank goodness, we're lucky to be at the other end of the committee boat. After we're rounding one of the marker buoy, a boat was heading towards us. She was to give way but she was not going to do so. In the end we had to bear away and had to make an emergency gibed to get away from her. Didn't think I wanted to damage our boat. The race official told that skipper off after the race when Leo complained. Gosh there was lots of adrenaline flowing in out bodies. It was extremely exciting and nerve racking as well. It was a good finish to a good regetta. We managed to take the 3rd spot in the harbour races as well despite crossing the line last again..
The organising committee truly put on a fantastic regetta. We had 4 night free accommodation in 5 stars hotels, 7 nights free marina berths, lots of dinners and teas, a trip to a longhouse. The main prize for us yachties was the 1000 RM ' participant ' reward. All the boats received that. Some of the boats that did not participate in the harbour races were only given 500RM. They were not too please but they had to realise that they could not receive the money if they did not participate in all the events. Last year the committee foolishly handled the money out before the race and 2 yachts took the money and disappeared. That's in not in the spirit of participation.
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