Scattered showers, swirling winds and a strong out going current make the Terengganu River a very tricky race course. Being at the confluence of two rivers there is no shelter from the current. As they get away from the start line in the main river and make their way to the windward mark the other river comes into play. On a racecourse barely 300 meters long, the racing is tight which places a huge emphasis on starting, picking the shifts, playing the current and staying in the wind zones.

In a recent interview Anna Tunnicliffe made the comparison between fleet and match racing "It's shorter racing, and it's much closer racing. You always have a chance to get back in it. But if you are doing badly, the race is over in 15 minutes, so it's not the end of the world. You don't dwell on it for an hour like you do in fleet racing. It's a completely different style of racing. It's like a chess game on the water; it's trying to out-smart your opponent, where as in the fleet racing, it's, "Okay, I'm getting a good start. And I'm going to the correct side of the course. But I have 20 minutes to figure out how I'm going to get from the start line that's even with everybody to ahead of everybody." In a match race, you have your pre-start of four minutes to try and figure out how you're going to out-smart them and get ahead of them off the line. And if you're not ahead of them off the line, it's very hard to figure out how you're going to get around them, sail down, sail around them on the rest of the racecourse. When you're racing really good people, if you're behind, it's really, really hard to get in front".

Thirteen Malaysian teams have signed up this year which is a vast improvement on past years. They are forever grateful that the Monsoon Cup came here and gives them an opportunity to learn match racing and an entry into a ISAF Grade 1 event which would not otherwise be possible. So we are into dial-ups, penalty turns, hard luffing, dial downs and everything else to get that little bit of an advantage. Nasser Abu Bakar - Putrajaya Five O received a black flag for starting too late, as well as not keeping clear, also for not completing the penalty that was given, which automatically gave Jeremy Koo - Koo Racing Team the win.

The rain squalls and shifty wind kept the race committee busy relaying the course several times only to be thwarted and do it all over again. They managed to get three flights completed before calling it a day. Some of the crews had difficulties with fitness to sheet in the headsail and setting the spinnaker in the changing conditions. After some difficulties in practice yesterday Rizal Mahadi Sazali from the Royal Selangor Yacht Club won three races today to lead the table. Rolf Heemskerk's Team Viewpoint ended the day with two wins out of two races. After relinquishing the lead by taking the wrong side of the current Nazreen Ghani's AsianYachting Team made a dramatic comeback on the final downwind to overhaul Hazwan Hazim's Taring Pelangi right on the finish line.

Chief Umpire Wayne Boberg reported at the press conference that he has never used so many combinations of the flags in one day and commended the race officials and his umpire team for the patience shown in the often trying and wet conditions. Last word from the race office "Lets hope it's a better day tomorrow". 

Captain Marty

Last Updated ( Monday, 23 November 2009 )