LABUAN: It was easy and smooth sailing for Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) teams as both of their boats Uranus and Utarid ended in top positions in IRC Racing Class in Miri to Labuan Passage Race of the ongoing Borneo International Yachting Challenge (BIYC).
Although One Sail owned and skippered by Australian Ray Roberts was the first among 25 boats reaching Labuan at 5.04 am on July 3, it went into third position after corrected time.
One Sail completed the 95 nautical mile race within 25 hours after flagged off from Miri Marina on July 2.
Malaysia’s Uranus and Utarid went into the first and second place respectively after completed the race with 24 hours.
Locally owned boats Miri Magic 2 and UluMulu finished in fourth and sixth position respectively.
Hong Kong Catalina, Sophia (New Zealand) and Seventh Heaven (Australia) were the top three in Cruising A while Voahangy (Rarotonga), Stella (New Zealand) and Charelle (Australia) ended in the first, second and third positions respectively in Cruising B.
In Multihull, Plane Sailing from South Africa came first followed by Blue Moon (Malaysia) and Mind The Gap (United Kingdom) in the second and third placing respectively.
A total of 25 boats from eight countries took part in 10th edition of BIYC from July 1-7. Australia has the biggest entries with eight fleets followed by Malaysia and New Zealand with five each.
The other countries were United States (two), United Kingdom (two) and one each Hong Kong, South Africa and Cook Island.
Meanwhile, Selma Star from the Philippines did not take part in this year’s race because of other commitments but the team had pledged to come back next year.