Borneo International Yachting Challenge Press Release

The 2010 Borneo International Yachting Challenge (BIYC) will begin in Miri (Sarawak) on the 25^th of this month.

This annual event, now in its 7^th year takes a fleet of international yachts from Miri to Labuan - a distance of 105 miles, and then from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) which is another 65 miles. The regatta finishes in Kota Kinabalu with two races around the Tunku Abdul Rahman national Marine Park on Friday the 30^th July, followed by a lavish prize giving dinner at Sutera Harbour Marina Club hosted by Sabah Tourism.

The regatta is a joint effort between the Ministry Of Tourism And Heritage Sarawak, Labuan Corporation, and the Sabah Tourism Board. Other sponsors include Sutera Harbour Resort, Samling Global, Pelita and Park City Everly Hotel in Miri.

This year will see 55 entries representing 13 countries from as far afield as Sweden and the United States, and includes the overall winner from last year, Selmar Star from the Philippines back to defend their title.

The fleet is almost double the size of last year’s and will set a new record for the event. It will also make the regatta one of the largest of its kind in South East Asia.

One of the reasons for this dramatic increase in numbers is due to collaboration between the BIYC and the Sail Malaysia Rally – Passage to the East.

BIYC committee member Simon Farmer, who was instrumental in forging this partnership with the organizers of Sail Malaysia, said that given the current state of the global economy and the ever shrinking sponsorship dollar it made sense to combine the two events. He said the number of entries this year proved that this had been a popular strategy.

The Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board and co-chairman of the regatta, Dato Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin expressed his delight with the number of yachts taking part this year and said that Sabah is on target to achieving its goal in becoming the Caribbean of the East.

He said that ‘events such as this are putting Borneo and Kota Kinabalu on the map, and are the perfect vehicle for showcasing the state and its bio-diversity’.

Adlin commented further that over the past 12 months Sutera Harbour Marina and Kota Kinabalu had hosted at least 10 mega yachts of over thirty meters with a combined value of over US$350 million dollars. Among these visitors was the world’s largest privately owned sailing yacht, the 92 meter ‘Eos’ valued in excess of US$150 million.

“The fact that more and more of these types of yachts are visiting our shores means that the message is getting through to yacht owners and captains that Sabah and Borneo have as much to offer, if not more than the other major destinations around the world. These types of visitors provide a tremendous boost to the local economy and to the global perception of Sabah”, remarked Adlin

Tengku Adlin will take part in the regatta once again this year sailing aboard Farmers yacht in the final two races off Kota Kinabalu. This will be a little different from last year when he crewed on the 120’ luxury sailing yacht ‘Naos’ and was treated to a gourmet lunch. Farmer warned Adlin not to expect the same this year as the boat he is sailing on is a stripped out racing yacht with only the bare essentials. Adlin replied that he was ready for the challenge.

Borneo International Yachting Challenge -Entries

There is a growing entry list for this years Borneo International Yachting challenge which is held at the end July and includes The Borneo Cup for Class IRC rated Yachts.

The event is truly International and very popular as there is no entry fee and a bonus payment is made to the skipper of all yachts which take part in the complete series of races comprising of inshore and passage races along the coast of Borneo.

Australian yachts head the list of entries with nine yachts, The United Kingdom has three entries, Malaysia the host has two entries along with New Zealand and there are single entries from Singapore and Germany.

This year so far there are three multihulls entered and they will have a separate classification.

Race Partners for the Borneo International Yachting challenge include Tourism Malaysia,Minitry of Urban Developement,Sarawak tourism board, Labuan Corporation,Sabah Tourism, Sabah State and Minster of Tourism Malaysia

David Ogden
webmaster@borneorace.com

Borneo International Yachting Challenge 2010

The Borneo International Yachting Challenge Website has just been updated for the 2010 race which starts in Miri Sarawak on 24th July, finishing in Kota Kinabalu Sabah on 31st July.

This year it is hoped to include Brunei as a port of call but this has still to be confirmed. New innovations this year include online race entry, together with a forum which provides crew finding information, accommodation information and questions and answers about the forthcoming race.

Borneo International Yachting Challenge

An early morning start was required on the morning of the passage race to Labuan in the Borneo International Yachting Challenge, due to the depth of water in the channel to Miri Marina.

We motored out into the dawn and once clear of the channel hoisted the sails for the first time to findout how Sarawak Seahorse perfomed. Our scratch crew cosisted of two experienced sailors plus three others with little or no experience, so it was going to be short but sharp learning curve. We did a few tacks and gybes so that everyone had an idea as to what to do.

The wind was fairly light and I misjudged the time to reach the start line, so that we missed the class start and narrowly avoided being classified as DNS as we dipped back acroos the line with seconds to spare, just ahead of the next class.

The wind gods did not favour the race and a few miles from the start the fleet was becalmed. One by one the cruising boats started their engines leaving us in their wake. Gradually the wind filled in and we reached down the coast heasing for the oil fields, where we decided to take the inshore route. we had some good sailing catching and passing a few of the cruising boats. we divided into two watches putting the novice sailors on the helm as the night wore on.

Dawn saw us of the coast of Brunei with a fair breeze and sails on the horizon infront of us, we slowwly closed the gap and then approaching Labaun fell into a wind hole and began to be pushed backwards by the current. We crept close to some rocky outcrops to avoid the current until the wind filled in allowing us to romp home to Labuan.

Unfortuantly we were classified as DNF due to time limit and were too late to protest ene, althuogh in previuos years are position would have counted.

David Ogden
Pirates Of Borneo