The 2010 Borneo International Yachting challenge, which was sailed over the third week of July, was won for the third consecutive year by Jun Avecilla from the Philippines in his Beneteau 36.5 ‘Selma Star'. Avecilla ended the regatta with a clean score sheet to take out the IRC racing class and the overall trophy.
In the three other classes Jim Ellis in his S&S 39 ‘Remington' took out Cruising A, Mark Blaskey sailing ‘Sari Timur' – Cruising B, and Bill Webb in ‘Out of the Bag' winning the Multihull division.
Conditions for the weeklong event which began in Miri and ended in Kota Kinabalu were near perfect with relatively consistent winds and fine weather. This was vindication for the race organizers who had made the decision to move the regatta forward a few months to take advantage of the south west monsoon. The other decision that proved very popular was the inclusion of the Sail Malaysia cruising rally in the event. This effectively doubled the number of entries making it a record fleet and one of the biggest keel boat regattas in the region, albeit without a real Racing class to head the call sheet.
Racing got underway for the fleet of 44 on Sunday 25th with a short inshore off the Miri marina. The night before a severe front passed over the coast with gale force winds that uprooted trees along the breakwater and produced a large ground swell. Exiting the marina the fleet was greeted by a 12 to 15 knot south westerly with near breaking waves across the entrance. This made for some heart stopping moments as the yachts made their way out onto the race course.
PRO Jerry Rollins sent the racing class around a three lap windward leeward course, while the cruising classes tackled the more forgiving reaching course. With two races scheduled for the day it was always going to be a battle for time before the tide made it too shallow to get back into the marina, and unfortunately a dying breeze forced the Race Officer to abandon the last race and send everyone back in.
Back on the beach it was Ulumulu, the Sydney 46 helmed by West Australian Gordon Lucas that was recorded as winner in the IRC class. That was until it was discovered that their finish time had been mixed up with one of the multihull's finishing times. This was good news for the multihull – Bill Webb's ‘Out of the Bag' which was bumped up from last place to first place, but not so good for Lucas who had to settle for second behind Selma Star. Cruising A honours went to John Potter in Jaraman, and Cruising B to Mark Blaskey in Sari Timur.
The next event on the schedule was the 97 mile race north from Miri to the duty free island of Labuan. Conditions for the start were near perfect with an 8 to 10 knot west south westerly giving the fleet an 18 mile broad reach to the corner at Kuala Baram.
In the three other classes Jim Ellis in his S&S 39 ‘Remington' took out Cruising A, Mark Blaskey sailing ‘Sari Timur' – Cruising B, and Bill Webb in ‘Out of the Bag' winning the Multihull division.
Conditions for the weeklong event which began in Miri and ended in Kota Kinabalu were near perfect with relatively consistent winds and fine weather. This was vindication for the race organizers who had made the decision to move the regatta forward a few months to take advantage of the south west monsoon. The other decision that proved very popular was the inclusion of the Sail Malaysia cruising rally in the event. This effectively doubled the number of entries making it a record fleet and one of the biggest keel boat regattas in the region, albeit without a real Racing class to head the call sheet.
Racing got underway for the fleet of 44 on Sunday 25th with a short inshore off the Miri marina. The night before a severe front passed over the coast with gale force winds that uprooted trees along the breakwater and produced a large ground swell. Exiting the marina the fleet was greeted by a 12 to 15 knot south westerly with near breaking waves across the entrance. This made for some heart stopping moments as the yachts made their way out onto the race course.
PRO Jerry Rollins sent the racing class around a three lap windward leeward course, while the cruising classes tackled the more forgiving reaching course. With two races scheduled for the day it was always going to be a battle for time before the tide made it too shallow to get back into the marina, and unfortunately a dying breeze forced the Race Officer to abandon the last race and send everyone back in.
Back on the beach it was Ulumulu, the Sydney 46 helmed by West Australian Gordon Lucas that was recorded as winner in the IRC class. That was until it was discovered that their finish time had been mixed up with one of the multihull's finishing times. This was good news for the multihull – Bill Webb's ‘Out of the Bag' which was bumped up from last place to first place, but not so good for Lucas who had to settle for second behind Selma Star. Cruising A honours went to John Potter in Jaraman, and Cruising B to Mark Blaskey in Sari Timur.
The next event on the schedule was the 97 mile race north from Miri to the duty free island of Labuan. Conditions for the start were near perfect with an 8 to 10 knot west south westerly giving the fleet an 18 mile broad reach to the corner at Kuala Baram.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Stunning Sailing in Darkest Borneo
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