Monsoon at the Monsoon Cup

by Rob Kothe on 2 Dec 2009 The Monsoon rain in Kuala Terengganu on the east coast of Malaysia, with more than 200mm (eight inches) falling in the last 24 hours, has provided a dramatic backdrop to the 2009 Monsoon Cup, the final event in the 2009 World Match Racing Tour.

Overnight there were more heavy thunderstorms and during the skippers briefing this morning, driving rain with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning.

David Tallis, Principal Race Officer of the Monsoon Cup commented ‘Rain is not a problem for us unless it is so torrential that the loss of visibility makes racing unsafe, but we will come off the water if there is local lightning.’

Rain eased just ahead of the scheduled start time but heavy thunderstorms are predicted for later this afternoon.

Upstream the Terengganu River is heavily swollen, with many villages and towns flooded and the currents are sweeping fast across the Pulau Duyong (Mermaid Island) Basin course and downstream to the river mouth. The current flow across the Basin varies dramatically with the tide, most of the volume coming from the southern side of the Island from the rear of the starting box.

Today the Round Robin is scheduled to commence at 12:00 local time and for most of the afternoon the tide will be flooding in from the South China Sea, just two miles to the east. With a tidal range of 1.7 metres, there will be some turbulent and serious tidal flows on the right hand side of the course.

Defending Champion Peter Gilmour won the inaugural event in 2005 and again in 2008. He knows the current better than any of the 12 competing skippers and it will be a brave opponent who is on the opposite side of the course to Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing Team in the early part of the series.

So the scene is set for an enthralling battle.

The first flight started in an 8-10 knot easterly, with wind against current in the middle/right hand side of the course.

In the first match of the 2009 Monsoon Cup, Magnus Holmberg pushed the Malaysian Match Racing Champion Hazwan Hazim Dermanwan over the line early and cleared away.

In match 2, the feisty New Zealander Phil Robertson, the Asian Match Racing Champion, sailed against current World Tour Champion Ian Williams (Team Pindar). Williams won the start and sailed away.

In the Ben Ainslie versus Damien Iehl match, Ainslie was twice green flagged in the startling box but he won the start and led his French opponent to the right. He went on to win.

Torvar Mirsky, fresh from his win in the practice event, the Australia Cup in Perth, proved to be too sharp for Francesco Bruni.

In the pre-start Mirsky led Bruni up-river bucking against the current, then turned and almost pushed the Italian into the marina pen. As they approached the line, Bruni failed to keep clear and Mirsky had to swing away to avoid a collision, penalty against Bruni. Mirsky won the start and the match.

Monsoon Cup 2009:

Adam Minoprio (NZL) - ENTZ/Black Match Racing

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) - Mirsky Racing

Ian Williams (GBR) - Team Pindar

Mathieu Richard (FRA) - French Match Racing Team

Peter Gilmour (AUS) - YANMAR Racing

Ben Ainslie (GBR) - TeamOrigin

Damien Iehl (FRA) - French Match Racing Team

Sebastien Col (FRA) - French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE

Magnus Holmberg (SWE) - Victory Challenge

Francesco Bruni (ITA) - Team Azzura

Phil Robertson (NZL) - Team New Zealand WAKA Racing

Hazwan Hazim Dermanwan (MAS) - Tarian Pelangi TESA