Tuesday, December 05, 2006
... cometh and gone. From someone who are not well versed in sailing I really would like to say that this year's edition was better organised and the logistics was not a nightmare for residents in this laid-back town of kT. Last year a number of roads were closed and a few of them were converted into one way lane much to the chagrin among the local residents.
There was also the free boat ride for those wishing to be closer to the action. These specially chartered commuter boats could accomodate around 20-25 people at one go and would take spectators to the edge of the race area. It would have been better if there was more information in regards of the races were relayed as this would help them to know what were transpiring right before their eyes.
The first day of practice promised a lot of challenge as competitors had to brave the elements of the monsoon which were pretty much evident but the weather became a bit more predictable once the competition proper began.
There were a few upsets here and there with the most notable one for all Malaysians was when Tiffany Koo of Selangor Gapura nearly beat defending champion Peter Gilmore during the round-robin (Tiffany eventually finished in 12th position).
Me and the girls attended the final day of the competition and for around twenty minutes watched the race from the boat as Ian Williams defeated Gilmour in the Petite Final and also Peter Holmberg, skippering his Alinghi team levelling the score to 1-1 against Frenchman Matthieu Richard's Team Saba.
Then we watched the next three races at the spectators stand on the Shahbandar field where two big screens were used to broadcast the match 'live' to those who does not have a pair of binoculars (including me...) Unfortunately, the running commentary was frequently disrupted by two deejays who kept talking nonsense instead of bringing attention to the final. Even, when they decided to comment on the race it was just like an obligatory few words: "A race is on going..." (without even mentioning who were the racers)
To those who are new to this match-racing concept of competitive sailing (like me) a good commentary would enable us to follow the races closely. The running commentary by the professionals were expertly delivered but to the masses who do not have good command of English it would be just like watching two boats racing without knowing who are racing against who (the only time they reacted was when there were collisions or when two boats coming so close with one another that made it look like a collision was inevitable)
Of course not everybody who came to the event had the races on their mind but it certainly would help enhance the image of the competition if the crowd can relate to the happenings on the water and not just to take a brief look before concentrating on events happening elsewhere.
The final itself was a thrilling one when Holmberg looked set to clinch the winner in the fourth race, even with the Saba Team was ahead by a few boat lengths it had a penalty against them after the two boats collided at the end of the last leg. Then Richard decided to take the penalty just before the finishing line, completed it and crossed the line two seconds ahead of Holmberg to bring the final to its fifth race.
The deciding race was another close one but Holmberg stayed the course ahead of Richard to win the richest prize on the tour and his first win in the Match Race series which saw him moved to 6th place of the overall standings.
The next race will be held in Langenargen, Germany in May 2007. The next edition of the Monsoon Cup will be the second time in the same series as the tour are set to change its format to the calendar year in 2008.
Posted at 10:35 pm by
arimota
