Welcome to the AsianYachting December 2001

NEWSLETTER

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1. Editorial
2. "Unluckiest sailor of the month" Award
3. Asian News
4. International
5. Off the beach & Olympic classes
 
Editorial
 
Sorry for the delay in producing this popular Newsletter. I have finally returned from the usual sojourn north with the Rahim family on Gotcha Lagi finishing 2nd overall in Malaysia's Raja Muda Int Regatta and Phuket King's Cup - Cruising Class 2. The trip has been action packed right from the very beginning and extremely demanding on human resources and the technical equipment being used.
 
Problems have varied from dodging the present rush of Christmas virus attacks on the computer to engine difficulties on the way back forcing us to extend our stay in Langkawi and Port Klang for mechanical repairs.
 

The http://AsianYachting.com website has been updated and now includes the Asean Regatta, RMIR 2001 and Phuket King's Cup race reports with pictures from the News & Views section. Many thanks to Peter in the KC Media centre for his help with eliminating a virus and trying to over come the difficulties in connecting for lengthy email transmissions. Expect some changes in the New Year as I will have to evaluate and rearrange the way of doing things if I am to continue.

Allot of water has flowed under the keel since our November departure and catching up with worldly events has been extremely time consuming and sometimes horrifying to say the least. The passing away of the Sultan of Selangor, Dr John Lightfoot, Sir Peter Blake and my dear old dad Zee Rijkuris from Mooloolabah has brought back many fond memories and some time for thought. They will be dearly missed by their sailing companions and my condolences go to all the families and friends for treasuring such inspiring people.

Many congratulations to the Sydney - Hobart fleet for capturing our imaginations during the festive season. Especially Assa Abloy for staging the biggest come back since Ben Hur in the last stages across Storm Bay and in the Derwent River to take lineHonours from the close battling Volvo 60 fleet and the larger maxi class racers. Full details on the 57th 2001 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race are available from the official website

Also congrats to the ever consistent Neil Pryde and crew of Hi Fidelity for winning the Raja Muda with 6 straight wins and the Kings Cup Racing Class to place him in a good position to take out the Perpetual Cup and the winner of the Asian Regatta Circuit 2001/2002 Fortune Cup. What do we have to do to beat this well oiled racing team? Is a thought going through the minds of the other racing teams that regularly compete in the region!

A belated Selamat Hari Raya, Merry Christmas and hopefully help strive toward a peaceful and friendly New Year.
 
"Unluckiest sailor of the month" Award
 

The AsianYachting award for the "Unluckiest sailor of the month" must go to Oracle Racing, set up by software billionaire Larry Ellison and skippered by Chris Dickson who lost its keel and toppled over during training in the Hauraki Gulf last November 2000. It happened again on Nov 15 2001 this year. As some of the crew perched on the hull and the half submerged boom, coastguard boats helped to stabilise the yacht and put in pumping equipment. The yacht, USA 49, was towed to nearby Motutapu Island. The 21-tonne lead bulb and steel fin keel took six days and three attempts to recover from 30m of water. Goodness gracious! Together with regular mast breakings these days. What's next at the America's Cup?

ASIAN NEWS

1. The dates and websites of the remaining Asian Yachting Circuit 2001/02 events coming up next month or next year are listed below. Notices of Race, Entry Forms and other usefull information is also available there.

8th Singapore Straits Regatta - 16 to 20 Jan
Phang Nah Bay Regatta - 10 to 13 Feb
RHKYC's China Sea Race 2002 - 28th March
Philippine President Cup - 3rd to 6th April
 
Anybody wanting to charter a race boat or crew during any of these exotic regatta's are asked to contact me by return email.

2. Go directly to the Kings Cup, Raja Muda Int and Asean Regatta Race Reports with colour photo's now posted on the AsianYachting News & Views site.

Phuket Kings Cup: http://AsianYachting.com/news/PKCR2001.htm
Raja Muda Int Regatta: http://AsianYachting.com/news/RMIR2001.htm
Asean Regatta: http://AsianYachting.com/AseanReg2001.htm

Many thanks must go to Wararak Voravidthayakom from the Sports Desk The Nation@Thailand and Andrew Owen (Proteus Sports) for the photos used in the reports and for producing and sharing their articles which have been diligently used in the Kings Cup 2001 report.
 
Full results for the 2001 Kings Cup and Raja Muda Int. Regatta can be found on their respective websites
Phuket Kings Cup - http://www.kingscup.com
Raja Muda Int Regatta - http://www.rsyc.com.my
 
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INTERNATIONAL

1. Nov 20 - News Corp sets a new 24 hour record of 451.2nm for this race, averaging 18.8 knots. The present record for a monohull stands at 467.7 miles. News Corp navigator Ross Field - "The off watch are sleeping in their wet weather gear as far aft as possible waiting for the call to "get it off", that means get the spinnaker off, in a real hurry. There are a few other adjectives added to this, which I can't repeat."

Then SEB moved the benchmark to 459 miles 24 hours latter only 9 miles short of a new 24-hour world monohull speed record.... 

2. Great American II breaks record. The 53-foot trimaran co-skippered by Rich Wilson and Bill Biewenga have completed the 15,000-mile voyage to Melbourne, Australia from New York in 68 days 10 hours 7 minutes 52 seconds, breaking the clipper ship Mandarin's record that has stood for 146 years at 69 days. More info on Wilson's Boston-based website

3. ISAF/World Sailing Speed Record Council's new website has news on the latest sailing speed records ratified by WSSRC, a complete list of major current records and extracts of the current rules for breaking records at http://www.sailspeedrecords.com

4. BRONCO is a class of mono-hulled single masted yachts with four nominal length divisions 30, 40, 50 and 60ft. It is based on a 'box rule' and has been conceived to facilitate good, hard, competitive, offshore yacht racing of nominal duration of 6 hours to one month, across 'warm' oceans. Rob Drury's frustration with offshore yacht racing has taken him down a path to a box rule and the creation of a web site to promote the cause.

5. NEW TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE CrossPac Ventures, based in San Francisco have announced the first running of a new shorthanded ocean race in 2003. Participating in the organization of CrossPac are the Golden Gate Yacht Club, Waikiki Yacht Club, Hawaii Yacht Club, Royal Prince Albert Yacht Club (Sydney), Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco Bay and the Shorthanded Sailing Association of Australia.

The starting gun for the CrossPac will go off on June 7th, 2003 at the Golden Gate YC in San Francisco. Ten to twenty days and 2100 miles later, finishers will complete Leg 1 by crossing the line seaward of the lighthouse at Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaii. Leg 2 begins on July 1 and takes the fleet across the equator, past Fiji, and just south of New Caledonia. The fleet will sail through the Tasman Sea to finish in Pittwater, on Broken Bay just north of Sydney, Australia.

OFF THE BEACH & OLYMPIC CLASSES

Sail Melbourne 2002 entries will receive free entry to a forum with some of Australia's top coaches. Sessions include Sailing Port Phillip with John Mooney, Starting Fast with Dayne Sharp, The Strategic Advantage with Mike Fletcher, and Developing the Winning Attitude with Gold Medal Coach Victor Kovalenko. The Coaching Forum will be held at Sandringham Yacht Club on January 10, 2002. Website: http://www.sailmelbourne.com.au
 
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Once again, I hope you have found this issue of AsianYachting - News & Views useful and interesting please forward it onto your sailing friends.

Kindest Regards
Capt Marty Rijkuris

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