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Navy’s armada stage one champion
by Anthony Joseph, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on July 24, 2012, Tuesday
NAVY RULE THE WAVES: The Royal Malaysian Navy fleet – Utarid (left) and Uranus (right) in action during the Miri Bay Regatta.
MIRI: The Royal Malaysian Navy armada did the country proud after they defeated all-time favourite and defending champion – Selma Star from the Philippines, in the IRC Racing Class of Miri Harbour Race on Sunday.
They send two boats – Utarid and Uranus, to immediately make an impact in their maiden participation at the 9th Borneo International Yachting Challenge (BIYC).
Australia dominated all the top three positions in the Multihull Class and Cruising Class B in the harbor race which is one of the segments of the yachting challenge. Australia has the biggest entries with a total of 23 yachts this year.
Utarid, skippered by Ishak Jab finished as champion in Race 1 of IRC Racing Class category in Miri Harbor Race with a commendable corrected time of one hour, two minutes and 58 seconds. Sister ship, Uranus took the second place with a corrected time of one hour, nine minutes and nine seconds.
Title holder Selma Star skippered and owned by Jesus Jun Avecilla, came in third.
In Race 2 of IRC Racing Class category, Uranus came first followed by Utarid and Selma Star.
Ishak when met after the prize presentation for Miri Harbor Race disclosed it was a meaningful and sweet victory for both Utarid and Uranus as the race was held during the fasting month of Ramadan.
“The crews of Utarid worked hard to minimise mistakes we made in the second race which gave us less pressure to complete the race,” said Ishak who was very thankful with the dedication, commitment and perseverance of his crew to compete during fasting month. “Although they are fasting, the crew worked very hard to ensure that we are able to perform and complete the race in good time,” he added.
On Selma Star, Ishak said, “We heard a lot about them. They are the defending champions for four consecutive years and we truly respect them for this. Selma Star is a good boat and their crews are really good and strong but somehow luck was not on their side this time.”
Ishak added they were very thankful and grateful to the Royal Malaysian Navy for purchasing both boats and giving them the opportunity and approval to come and compete in the race. Their ultimate aim is to lift and bring home the challenge trophy at the end of the Borneo International Yachting Challenge on July 27 in Kota Kinabalu. Their victory would be the best give for the Royal Malaysian Navy.
According to Ishak, as a routine they trained five times a week to prepare for competitions. Prior to BIYC, they have competed in the Raja Muda International Regatta and Royal Langkawi International Regatta.
BIYC is the third international event they competed after the Royal Malaysian Navy acquired and launched both Utarid and Uranus end of last year.
“We hope and pray that the crew will be further determined and strengthened their will to win the next race. We also hope that we will be blessed with the endurance and good health as we are competing during the fasting month in hot weather conditions. I have informed the crew to look after themselves and their health to maintain stamina as it is still a long way to go,” revealed Ishak.He also commended the organiser for the smooth and effective running of the competition. They were impressed with the number of boats taking part in the race.
The entries from Australia namely Splashdown, Ultimate Dream and Bach & Byte were the top three winners in the Multihull Class category.
Simanderal, skippered by Michael Hughes from United Kingdom, emerged champion in the Cruising Class A category followed by Bewitched from Hong Kong and Australia Seventh Heaven in second and third place respectively.
The Australian fleets – Cilantro (J Thomson and Sandra Toomey), Freycinet (Daryl Calvert) and Jemimah (Geunther M Seidel) again dominated the top three positions in Cruising Class B.
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