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Sail-World.com : Heritage Bay Cup Kicks Off To a Thrilling Start on First Race
Heritage Bay Cup Kicks Off To a Thrilling Start on First Race
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The first race of the Heritage Bay Cup got off to an interesting start – with the lack of sea breeze causing the 3 competing boats coming practically to a standstill for nearly an hour. With no indication of a breeze picking up, David Mills, Yacht Manager of Monsoon Cup was forced to postpone the following flights of the race to 19 June 2009.
Earlier, the 3 teams, Terengganu Treasury Sailing Team, Team PMINT (representing the State Economic Development Corporation) and Team Ri-Yaz from Ri-Yaz Heritage Resorts and Spa, had an exciting race that showed no indication they were novices. They are among the 6 teams vying for a place in the finals to be held on 20 June, to wrest the title of Heritage Bay champion from last year’s winner, Team Suffian.
Flight 1 of the fleet race got off to a thrilling start with excellent weather conditions. Although there was a storm brewing in the distance, it did not affect the race as the storm surprisingly passed over the race course with only a light drizzle. Azam Azri Mohammad, skipper of Terengganu Treasury Sailing Team got a comfortable lead early in the race. Guided by Mills, who was on their boat as coach, Azam Azri won the first flight of the race, followed by Malizan Zakaria’s Team Ri-Yaz, who had Nurul Ain Md Isa as coach while Wan Adnan Wan Derahman’s Team PMINT and their coach Sean Ong, came in third.
'It was a great outing for us and we are happy to have won this flight. Despite being newcomers, the team was comfortable and enjoyed sailing in the F36. It also helped with Mills guiding us on our sailing and co-ordination techniques along the race. All the calls I was getting back from my team were accurate, our time and distance was right, so I think we did quite well. We look forward to coming back to finish the following flights next week and the team is confident we will secure a place in the finals,' said the Treasury Sailing Team manager, Tun Ahmad Faisal Tun Abdul Razak. He also attributed their win to great teamwork, excellent strategy and physical fitness, adding that they will double up their training in the next one week.
Meanwhile Malizan Zakaria from Team Ri-Yaz said miscalculation of the wind direction and the distance from the marker cost the team a win. 'We started off with an excellent strategy and calls early in the race. We were closely tacking both the teams at the start of the race before going off-course for a short distance. Overall, this was a good experience for us as we are now familiar with the F36 and should be able to have a better strategy in the next race. We are looking forward to entering the Heritage Bay Cup finals and win it as well,' he said.
Although Team PMINT was in second place, Team Ri-Yaz gave an excellent tacking duel up the second beat, and forged ahead to second place. Commenting on their performance, Wan Adnan said: With the lack of sea breeze, we were not able to sustain our position. However, this was a good experience as we now know the team member’s strength and weakness. We will be able to strategise better for the next flight, in addition to improving the team’s communication when making calls.'
The second Heritage Bay Cup held at Pulau Duyong that began on 12 June will continue with Race 2 today. Winners of Race 1 and 2 will return on Saturday, 20 June to compete against Team Suffian for the title.
Heritage Bay Cup is part of the Monsoon Cup initiative to instill interest in sailing and hone the sailing skills of the local communities in Terengganu, particularly around Pulau Duyong. Themed 'Untuk Juara Tempatan' (For Local Champions), the event drew wide interest among participants this year as evident with the bigger number of entries.
'Teams are more enthusiastic and competitive this time. The Monsoon Cup organisers have successfully created a wide interest and awareness of this sport in Terengganu and nationwide, with us having to turn away teams as all available spaces were snapped up quite fast. It is also encouraging to see the teams are committed to learn and improve their sailing skills and techniques,' said Mills after the race.
He added that to help the novices, an in-depth sailing clinic was held prior to the race with the teams getting a few hours of practices prior to the actual race to familiarise themselves with the race rules and the F36 yachts. In addition, Mills together with his experienced racers from the Monsoon Cup, were onboard the yachts to further guide the teams.
'The Heritage Bay Cup is a success as all the competing teams are keen to improve their skills and return for the next event,' Mills enthused.
by RURRUM
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2:55 AM Sat 13 Jun 2009 GMT
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