Nine skippers to compete in Malaysia Challenge
By Lukman Natanagara
LANGKAWI, Malaysia (JP): Nine skippers will compete in the third US$75,000 Malaysia Challenge starting on Monday. The yachting competition is the last series of the Grand Prix of the Millennium being staged by the International Sailing Federation.
The nine skippers are Sten Mohr of Denmark, Magnus Holmberg and Markus Wieser from Germany, Croatian Tomislav Basic, Andy Beadsworth of England, Sebastien Destremau of Australia and Roy Heiner of the Netherlands and two qualifiers Philippe Presti of France and Hamdan Yahya of Malaysia.
Presti and Yahya qualified after defeating rivals Ariffin Abdul Aziz of Malaysia and Russian Taranov Maxim in the Langkawi Match Racing Championship, which served as the qualifying round, on Saturday. Presti led the race with four points followed by Yahya with two points to qualify for the Challenge.
The race -- jointly sponsored by state oil company Petronas, the Business Focus Group and Malaysia Airlines -- takes place on the coastal waters of Langkawi.
Out of nine skippers competing in the race, Mohr and his four- man crew have a great chance. They have won the Aci Cup, Troffeo Trombini, Internationeaux de France and Danish Championship. Mohr, who has collected 11 top five results from 1989, aims to fulfill his ambition to win the race.
Holmberg, world number four, is a big threat to Mohr as the German has constantly finished first since competing in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He won the Cannon Cup and the Scandinavian Championship and finished second in the 1999 Australia Cup.
Wieser, world number 10, is also another threat as the experienced German has finished in the top three of five championships in the last two years.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was scheduled to open the Malaysia Challenge, but this was canceled because Mahathir is preparing for the Nov. 29 general election. State Minister of Kedah Tan Sri Dato Sanusi Junid will open the event instead.
The minister expressed hope in his brief speech that one day Malaysian skippers would be able to compete in the America's Cup.
"I welcome all participants in the Malaysia Challenge which is now underway. I also hope our (Malaysian) skippers can compete in the America's Cup," he said.
Tan Sri Abdul Wahab Nawi Sempena, a retired vice admiral of the Royal Malaysia Navy, said the Malaysia Challenge was a great challenge to the organizers and it was impossible to stage the event without support from sponsors.
"The uncertain economic situation, the unrest in the neighboring countries, the other international sporting events taking place in Malaysia and the rest of the world at the same time makes it really very doubtful for us. But our confidence in the event will once again make the Malaysia Challenge a great success," he said.