Hansen Leads...

...the Pack.


Bjorn Hansen finished at the top of the pile after the opening day of the qualifying round ended yesterday. In condition that mirrored the tournament name, the race organizer had to call in the boats four times as conditions turned for the worse with winds at around 40 knots together with very heavy rain made racing impossible.


But Hansen, skippering his Mekonomen crews made the best when the race was on and recorded victories over tour leader Ian Williams (Team GAC Pindar), fellow Scandinavian Jesper Radich (Adrian Lee & Partners) and Kiwi youngster William Tiller (Full Metal Jacket Racing) for a 3-0 finish.

Another skipper with an unbeaten record on the first day was Johnie Berntsson (Berntsson Sailing Team) who recorded wins over Damien Iehl (French Match Racing Team) and Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing Team).


Peter Gilmour also recorded two wins against Williams and Malaysian Match Racing Champions, Jeremy Koo (Abdullah Chan/KRT) but suffered a defeat at the hands of Radich. Tiller also finished with an identical score to Gilmour with victories over fellow Kiwi Robertson and Mathieu Richard (French Match Racing Team).

Koo ended the day with a 0-3 scoreline and will be looking for his first win at the Monsoon Cup in the coming days.


Torvar Mirsky (The Wave Muscat) and Francesco Bruni (Bruni Racing) managed to start positively from their sole flights, registering wins over Koo and Richard. The Frenchman lost both his races and so did Williams but it is still early days and the position could change very fast like the weather at the Pulau Duyong basin.


...

Splashing Success...

...at the Marina

The 2011 edition of Terengganu World Invitational Jet Race Challenge came to its end on Sunday with the conclusion of the Endurance category.

In the Pro Am Runabout Open Pancho Manjak of Team Yamaha Finland emerged as champion while Teera Settura of Settura Racing came in second. Dubai based Mendhy Menad of Team Yamaha Fox Riva finished in third place.

In the Pro-Am Runabout 800 Open, Thai racers took the top two places. Teera and Supak Settura of Settura Racing Team made it a Settura one-two finish while Mohamad Nayan Bakar of Fishbone Racing Team took third place.

While in the Women Runabout Open, favourite Nur Shahida Mohamad Noor of CTM Racing as expected romped to victory with Kundang rider, Aina Syazwani Mohamed Saffian and Club Terengganu Marina, Melissa Karina Yahya took second and third place respectively.

Experienced rider Ahmad Dawi Alias easily took the Veterans Runabout Open title. Ahmad Dawi who was representing CTM Racing saw off the challenge from Meganrata Racing rider, Chia Boon Choy and Japanese rider Masaya Inoue of Team Japan. 

In the Malaysian only Expert Runabout Open, brothers Haniff Sukri and Zulfaizal Sukri made it a one-two finish for their team CTM Racing. Lau Soon Leong of Ah Huat Motor finished third.

Team Yamaha Finland rider Pancho Marjak made it a double for him when he took the top honours in the Pro-Am Runabout 4 Stroke Stock. Team Indonesia Aero Sutan Aswar finished second while Toshi 'Samurai' Ohara of Team WPS Japan took third place.

In the Novice Runabout 4 Stroke Stock category, Meganrata Racing rider Bryan Chia Wai Yuen was at the top of the podium. He was flanked by Aqsa Sutan Aswar of Team Indonesia in second place and Jetsar Racing Team, Elgernon Clayton Mindaw in third.

The Endurance category which tested the ability of man and machine to last the distance saw Seth Wilkinson of X1 Racing coming in at first place. Independent rider Zulfaizal Abu Bakar came in second place while Aero Sutan Aswar of Team Indonesia finished third.

The only woman rider in the Endurance race, Ika Natasya Yahya of CTM Racing finished in a credible ninth place.

Then prior to the prize giving ceremony, those who were present at the Ri-Yaz Heritage Resort Marina & Spa were entertained by a demonstration race of the powerful F3000 Powerboats.

To all winners and participants, CONGRATULATIONS!



...

The World...

...Jet-ski-ing into Town

Today marked the beginning of the 2011 edition of Terengganu World Invitational Jet-ski Challenge. The competition is being held at the prestigious Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort and Spa which is home of the renowned Monsoon Cup.

There was no race on the first day of April as it was allocated for registration of teams and participants, followed by free practice session on the race course. The sun shone brightly thus giving everybody their chance to test their machines.

mad redo1 will be back tomorrow morning at Ri-Yaz to capture the motos that are scheduled to take place beginning at 0930hrs. The challenge are divided into the following categories:

1 - Novice Runabout 4 Stroke Stoke (8 laps)
2 - Expert Runabout Open - Malaysians only (10 laps)
3 - Veterans Runabout Open - 40+ (8 laps)
4 - Pro-Am Runabout 4 Stroke Stock (10 laps)
5 - Women Runabout Open (8 laps)
6 - Pro-Am Runabout 800 Open (8 laps)
7 - Pro-Am Runabout Open (12 laps)

There are four motos to be completed by riders, three on Saturday while the fourth will be on Sunday. After the completion of the last moto, the Endurance Race will take place after lunch break.

The challenge attracts riders from Japan, Finland, France, the United States, Thailand, Brunie as well local riders from Malaysia, and of course, Terengganu.

There are a number of side attractions happening on Pulau Duyong, with traditional games such as sepak raga bulat, duck catching competition, four-a-side beach football and the main attraction, the F3000 Powerboat Demo Race.

More photos HERE.


...

I am Sailing...

...I am Sailing
Home again 'cross the sea
I am sailing, stormy waters
To be near you, to be free

Well, those are the opening lyrics to the famous 'Sailing' song by Rod Stewart. Part of it were true as the waters off Pulau Duyong was quite rough and the wind was challenging as mad redo1 and his band of brothers in the newly formed Team OMEGA took to the waters for the 2011 Heritage Bay Cup - Ides of March Edition.

With the recent high magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan, mad redo1 feared that the event might be cancelled but in the end it received a 'go ahead' from the relevant authorities.

With many of the Team AG:eing members were not available, thus the name was changed to Team OMEGA, mostly influenced by the hastily procured team attire which borne the name of the health drinks, Nesvita Omega Plus.

This time there was no Ai-Li in sight but we drew the name Sean who turned out to be a friend of the sea loving city girl. Sean told us Ai-Li would be starting a new job on Monday, thus could not make it to Pulau Duyong this time around.

Thus, mad redo1, Mat Ming and Abu of the original Team AG:eing boarded the F36 boat with a new set of crew of Vam, Jim, Robert and Airy. After an hour and a half practice session the team was ready for action which was scheduled to start at 1500hrs.

Once again, it was a good start and Team OMEGA finished the first race on a winward-leeward course in third place. The choppy waters and strong winds certainly tested the crew and with heavy rain coming down it was a whole new experience for mad redo1.

To mad redo1's amazement the exact same thing happened as it was during the Monsoon Cup Edition as Team OMEGA found themselves finishing last in the second race which was done in a trapezoid course.

Of course there was some moments when another team bumped into us which should have been penalised (but was not) and another hit the buoy (again, no penalty) that could see us finishing at least fourth.

The third race was back on a windward-leeward course and we rallied together and managed to finish fourth. with a 3-5-4 score, Team OMEGA occupied the the number four spot of the five teams event.

At least the initial objective of not finishing last was achieved.

Will Team AG:eing make a return in the scheduled June edition? It looks likely as Mrs Birch had already stated her intention to return and helms the F36 again.

To everybody in Team OMEGA, congratulations!



...

Champions...

...Ainslie!

British Triple Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie and his TeamOrigin team-mates completed a remarkable 'double' by winning the 2010 Monsoon Cup ahead of Aussie Torvar Mirsky of Mirsky Racing Team in a close final.

The 3-2 win enabled Ainslie to add the closing regatta tournament trophy to the World Match Racing Tour honours that he won at midday after closest challenger Mathieu Richard of the French Match Racing Team failed to finish in the top five and with the Brit qualifying for the final.

The day before, in the absence of defending champions Adam Minoprio of ETNZ/Blackmatch Racing Team who failed to qualify for the last eight, Ainslie had chosen to race against Richard in the make or break quarter-final race. The strategy paid off as he defeated the Frenchman 3-1.

It was the last Match Racing campaign for Ainslie and his TeamOrigin crew, at least for now as they will set their sights to the 2012 Olympics events which will take place in their own backyards.



...

Ocean...

...Deep!

Well, not really.

The estuary of the Terengganu River is not that deep, even to the extend that a F36 Monsoon Cup yacht could run aground if it sails too near to the shore. How does mad redo1 know all this?

He just competed in the Heritage Bay Cup, The Monsoon Cup 2010 Edition with his Team AG:eing.

mad redo1 is not a sailor and he never intend to become one during his childhood years. But since the annual Monsoon Cup tour came to town in 2005 it has been his ambition to get himself onto the boat.

Last year was the closest when someone offered him the chance to ride with the competitors during the race but due to his 'busy' schedule, he only got to shoot pictures of the race from the balcony of the Marina building.

Then when mad redo1 received this call, he did not have to think twice and within a day a crew of seven was assembled. Taking into consideration the average age of the crews (39.3 years old) thus the name Team AG:eing was adopted.

A set of sailing attire was ordered and printed with the name of the team and the crew, at a very low cost, thanks to the sponsorship by the print-shop owner himself who then delivered the shirts on the very next day after confirming the order.

Anybody wishing to get a good deal on uniforms/shirts or other items can get in touch with ABB Jaya Enterprise via e-mail: abbjaya_05@yahoo.com or contact the manager: Encik Anuar at 013-927-1418. The business already has a good reputation in kT.

On Friday, the crew assembled at The Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina and after a briefing by Mr David Mills, the Programme Facilitator, Team AG:eing took to the water on a F36 boat under the tutelage of Miss Ai-Li and Miss Anushka. Of course it was just a short with just over an hour for these ageing brains to absorb all the information needed in order to compete later in the afternoon.

Then it was time for Friday Prayers.

The race time could not come soon enough for the crew. Despite having a few butterflies in the stomach everybody was in an upbeat mood. After Mr Mills had given the racing brief, everybody headed out to the marina and this time everyone seemed to know their job.

Linda a.k.a. Mrs Birch had taken the role of the skipper while mad redo1 a.k.a. The Birch would be the Bowman. These roles put both of them at different ends of the boat. Nizam or more more affectionately known as Kulat had volunteered for the role of the Mast-man while the rest of the crew namely Abu, Hilmi a.k.a. Mat Ming, Enal and Eskay became trimmers and grinders for port and starboard sides respectively.

The weather was similar to the monsoon which made us more excited with the challenge.

Race One was done on a Windward Leeward Course and after a few tacking and jiving we surprised ourselves by coming in at third place. Not bad, not bad at all for a crew of beginners.

Unfortunately for Race Two which was done on a Trapezoid Course, our advisor 'seemed' to be misjudging the distance in getting to the starting line in time for the start of the race. As a result we were already 15 seconds behind the rest of the pack. It was not a recoverable distance and Team AG:eing finished last.

For Race Three which returned to the Windward Leeward Course we timed our start almost perfectly and despite going in different direction from the rest of the pack it seemed that we were still in a good position to at least finish at least among the top four of this race.

Unfortunately several 'questionable advices' threw us off the pace and after hitting a buoy which induced a penalty, Team AG:eing really looked the age as we finished last again. Thus the two last finishes put paid to our hopes of not finishing last of the pack.

The sailing bugs certainly have bitten us hard and we are certainly looking forward to competing again in the next edition of the Heritage Bay Cup.

Watch out world, Team AG:eing is coming at you again!

By the way the Heritage Bay Cup was won by the Ri-Yaz Sailing Team.



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