Race week on Reflections IV |
The story starts in Kota Kinabulu. Liz and the girls have flown back to Phuket to start school, and I stayed with the boat. After two weeks working hard to catch up on my uni work I set out to Labuan, for the start of the 'race'. Before we returned to the boat in Miri we heard from friends about a yacht race from Labuan to Miri and there was a $500 participant prize for the first twenty boats to register. I was quite unsure about this as I'd never taken Reflections in a race before and it didn't seem like 'my sort of thing'. Still the idea of the money was too attractive, so I signed up for the '3rd Borneo International Yachting Challenge'.
I assumed I would sail the boat alone but had invited Laura, who had sailed with us from Miri to Brunei, to come and was very pleased the day before I left for Labuan to hear that she would be in Labuan. With absolutely shocking weather the day before, it was quite a relief to see a clear sky in the morning as I left on the 70mile run to Labuan. Going along, motor sailing, I found myself trying to adjust sails and paying more attention to boat speed than we do normally. The competitive spirit was starting to grow.
After a beautiful night anchored off Labuan I came into the harbour the next morning to find lots of yachts anchored off the Waterfront hotel and many more tied up inside the remnants of a marina that had, in great Malaysian style, completely fallen down. Anchored a respectable distance away from the others, I jumped in a passing dinghy and made my way ashore.
After living a bit of a hermit's life while finishing uni assignments, I really wasn't prepared for the onset of people rushing around, directing me to Customs, Immigration, Ports, Race Registration, Yacht measurement, Hotel check-in and pre-race meetings. All this happening while trying match faces to names for all the different yachts that I'd met over the last two months. I completely blew the yacht measurement as I didn't know any of the exact measurements and gave lengths in the same way I'd order rope - a metre extra to be safe. So I ended with a big handicap and in the section with the bigger, faster boats. Seeing I hadn't cleaned the bottom for two months, and the sails are very old & saggy, I could see a real embarrassing time ahead.
The first night was a buffet dinner, with a band playing good music so loud you couldn't talk. Outside offered the chance to meet a few new people. I was approached by Chris the editor of Fragrant Harbour, a sailing magazine in Hong Kong, to come with me on the overnight passage race from Labuan to Miri. The next day I woke early to get the boat tidy and ready for the first race - ever. Butterflies were working overtime!
So at the appointed hour, we raised anchor and headed out to the race start point. With a only a vague idea of where the start/course was, we decided to take it easy and hang back a bit. This was the strategy of most of the 17 cruising boats taking part so we were spread out for miles. The race organisers announced the start countdown and 5-10 minutes after that we crossed the start. With ridiculously light winds we slowly beat up towards the windward mark. Now it was really showing how bad a sailor I was, as most of the boats steadily left us for dead. Luckily the wind shifted to our advantage and we made up lots of ground. Reaching out to the next mark the wind died, and whispered from right behind. Put the spinnaker pole out to hold the headsail out, and we basically moved forward at a snails pace. Three hours later, and we were feeling melted by the heat. If wasn't for the fact that I had a visitor aboard, I'm sure I would have completely lost my temper in the heat and frustration. Eventually a whiff of wind took us to the mark, and we turned, feeling the wind almost instantly pick up to12 knots. We rocketed back to the second last mark, actually overtaking a smaller boat and feeling really great about the rush of air and speed. Crossed the line felt really good and sailed on to the anchorage, happy with the day's outcome - Never hit anyone, and never got in anyone's way.
That night a bus trip around the corner to the first prize giving function, with lots of speeches and trophies. A dry night with the staff topping up the orange juice as fast as we could get it down - not a bad thing seeing tomorrow was the overnight race.
The next saw Chris and Laura aboard, and we approached the start with dark skies around. A light wind start followed by a strong wind on the nose and we started to charge across to the Borneo mainland, toward Brunei. With Reflections heeled over and sails in tight, we were charging along, holding our own on the rest of the fleet. So we get ready to tack, and Laura notices the headsail is starting open on a seam - bugger. Not wanting it to rip it right open (been there, done that) I rolled it up and we came to a crawl while I rigged the much smaller cutter sail, and sailed way off the wind at 4 knots. After a few hours the wind died down and, with so little sail area, we assumed a snails pace. The rules allowed us to motor with a time penalty, so we started up and continued to motor for the rest of the 100 miles. Such a shame, but most other cruising boats did the same, as the wind collapsed for most the night. It turned out to be a very enjoyable trip with a brilliant moon, and very enjoyable conversation with my two crew (pretty sure I talked most of the time).
So we motor-sail into Miri, and as we approach I can't see many masts. Fear starts to set in that we may be first. While it was legitimate to motor - no one wants to cross the line first by motoring nearly the whole way. Our saviours were Alistair, Vivienne & Russell on Largo Star (NZ) who won our bet for a beer to the winner between us, and got all the glory. The press arrived, and not understanding about yacht races, assumed they were the winners. It was with great amusement that we watched the press crowd around them. All in good fun. As the other boats arrived, each being greeted with a case of beer, a party developed. Sailing all night and then drinking early in the morning is a dangerous mix, but everyone behaved pretty well. I had an absolute ball that day.
That night was aboard the boat, then a lay day to recover, and check into the Park City Everly Hotel for two very comfortable nights. The last race out of Miri went quite smooth and with a little wind we went around the buoys OK. On the first of these nights we were taken up to the local Boat Club at the other end of Miri for an excellent night, and the last night was Chinese banquet and full on prize giving, traditional dancing and lots of speeches. Dancing in the small bar of the hotel till early morning, and the race week was done... and I had US$500 in my pocket! This whole thing was quite a local event and there were lots coverage in the newspapers. I even got my head in a couple!
Laura and Christine from Augusta (Norway) had birthdays, so the final celebration was a pot luck party on the jetty the next night. Quietness has now settled as we all start fall back into more sustainable routines.
I so wish that Liz, Courtney & Anna could have here for this crazy week, but that wasn't the way it could be. But I was very fortunate to have such good company aboard and would them have them back again anytime, especially this young lady from the US, with which Anna became such good friends.
from Laura's blog:
Here is my new best friend Anna. She is the bosom buddy I’ve always wanted. We’ve had hours of conversation paddling all around the Marina.
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