By Saturday, 21st July, 2010 Miri Marina was full to overflowing with 50 boats from 14 different countries getting ready to participate in the Borneo International Yachting Challenge. Saturday afternoon was tied up with registration and customs and immigration which had to be done as we were all leaving Sarawak. Saturday night there was a dinner which was held at the Seahorse Restaurant with various speeches etc. from the various dignitaries. The dinner was put on by Troy Yaw who owns the Seahorse restaurant, along with the Marina, the Everly Park Hotel as well as 16 boats and comes from one of the two wealthiest Chinese families in Miri. All participants were also given two free nights' accommodation (Saturday & Sunday), which included breakfast at the Everly Park hotel which was very nice and is a 5 star hotel.
While in the marina before travelling back to NZ we met a Danish guy, Finn and his Ukrainian wife, Maryna and their little 3yr old daughter Anna. Sailing being the order of our conversation we invited Finn to crew for us in the Yachting Challenge. Finn came with us on his own for the Round the Buoys races and we were joined by Maryna and Anna for the two longer passages from Miri to Labuan and Labuan to Kota Kinabalu. They had all been back in Europe visiting family as well as Finn doing business and only arrived back in Miri on the Saturday night.
Just after 8am on the Sunday all the yachts headed out of the marina for a morning of Round the buoys racing. The yachts were in four divisions - Racing yachts, Cruising A, Cruising B and Catamarans. Unfortunately we were put in the Cruising A division and were given a handicap of 954, the second highest, which we were sure was wrong but didn't complain. Our racing skills have become nonexistent over the last 8 years so we weren't up to par on the first round the buoys race and it wasn't until nearly the end of the first race that Finn and I had got our tacking moves up to scratch. With so many yachts all going in different directions we had trouble working out the course, ended up drifting on to a marker buoy so had to do a 360, but found out later the racing rules have changed and we were supposed to do a 720. Up until that point we weren't doing too bad but then we completely lost it, couldn't work out where the course was and then we were supposedly doing a controlled jibe and Dave, not thinking, was on the wrong side of the main sheet rope and was thrown across to me and smashed his head on the big genoa winch so had blood pouring down him as he bleeds terribly. He did look a sight for sore eyes!! Cruising A division were to have another race but as there wasn't a lot of wind it was going to take too long and as it is very shallow at the entrance to the marina all boats needed to be in before the tide dropped too much as it was a particularly low tide at that time.
Sunday night we had a dinner put on for us all at the Everly Park Hotel, along with prize giving, more speeches and a bit of a cultural show and Maryna and Anna joined us for that, with Anna after eating her dinner going and lying on a bench and going to sleep. As you can imagine they were all suffering from jet lag.
Monday morning we all headed out of the marina just after 9am for the start of the passage race to Labuan, with our start being just after 10am. We had a good start but had no wind. At around 3pm that day we were able to hoist the spinnaker but had to pull it down at 5.30pm. The distance to Labuan is 125 miles and in the rules in the cruising division you are allowed to motor but you have to take your time and position as to when you motor. A yacht that motors cannot beat a yacht that hasn't motored, even if they come last. During the night the wind completely died and we ended up motoring from 8.20pm until 10.39pm when the wind picked up and we had beautiful sailing from then until when we crossed the finish line at 0655 on Tuesday, 27th. The rest of the day was free, except for checking into Customs and Immigration who based themselves at the Labuan Yacht Club until another prize giving and dinner at the Aquatic centre in Labuan. We also stocked up on duty free beer - 60doz which we need to last us until we arrive back in NZ in November, 2011 (more about that later).
The race from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu started at 11.10 am on Wednesday, 28th and we had a reasonable start, even though we had no wind and drifted over the start line. We hoisted the spinnaker straight away and managed to hold it for 2 ½ hours and for a little while the breeze picked up and we had a nice reach but unfortunately it did not last and the rest of the race was a battle. Dave was determined this time that we were not going to start the motor. This leg was supposedly only 65 miles but with all the tacking and trying to chase the wind we ended up doing 77 miles. We were 1 ½ miles from the finish line when Gill on Destiny 111 called us up to say that she hated to be the bearer of bad news but did we realise that we had to go around Manukan Island, taking it to starboard - we had it to port! We had not read the sailing instructions properly and wondered why some of the yachts had taken 7-8 hours to get past Manukan Island! As we had to finish the race by a certain time we knew that we were not going to make it sailing so we started the motor and went as fast as we could around the island to finish the race about an hour and a half before the close off time.
We enjoyed it all but we certainly aren't racers anymore and at the end of it all each boat received 688 RM ($NZ312) for competing. Anna was as good as gold on the long passages and with suffering from jet lag slept long hours during the day but was up most of the night. She sat up under the spray dodger and sang - she speaks four languages - English, Danish, Russian and Malaysian and I think she was singing at various times in all the languages! She never cried or grizzled once which was truly amazing for a not quite four year old.
During the rest of that day, Thursday, yachts were moved in from the anchorage outside to be berthed in Sutera Marina where we were given three free nights berth age. Finn, Maryna & Anna left the boat in the afternoon and booked in to a hotel for the remainder of the week and activities.
Friday morning Finn joined us for the Harbour Race but with not a lot of wind we didn't go very well as we need a good 12-15 knots to really get going as we are an ocean going yacht, not a coastal cruiser like the normal Beneteau's that most know about.
Friday night was a dinner at Sutera marina and then a final Farewell dinner and Prize presentation at the Sutera resort where there was also a cultural show and band etc. A most enjoyable night.
Sunday lunchtime our friends from New Zealand, John & Margaret Cullen arrived to spend three weeks with us. However, that night Finn and Maryna took the four of us out to dinner in KK to a Korean restaurant where we had a beautiful meal with Finn & Maryna introducing us to many Korean delights. Finn had lived and worked in Korea for a few years. They flew out that night back to Miri.