Tall Ship race

Tall Ship race

In August I took part in the Sail Indonesia, '95 Tall Ship
race in my Tall Ship Golden Hawk. We were not fortunate enough to
win but did creditably well enough to finish fourth in our
division and ninth overall.

However, that is not the point of this letter, rather, it is
to express my thanks to the organizers for the splendid job they
did and to the people we met in Jakarta who made us welcome and
entertained us in a way none of us expected.

I participated in the Tall Ships, '88 in Australia and so,
have a good idea of the amount of work and time it takes to
organize such an event. Considering it was the first time for
Indonesia, the success achieved was even more remarkable.

Apart from the Tall Ship race and the Yacht Race there was the
Gun Salute and the Fleet inspection, in which we all took part.
This was followed by cultural activities by way of introduction
to the many facets of modern Indonesia and entertainment, such as
a Gala dinner, luncheons and a prize giving dinner. The navel
personnel were most helpful and, all in all, everything went like
clockwork.

I sat with a fellow Australian captain at dinner one night and
he passed the comment that it was amazing how much was done and
in particular the fantastic hospitality. "I have never
experienced anything like it." he said.

Many words of thanks have been said to the people gathered at
dinners, etc., but publicly, little has been said or written. I
want to say to all people involved: Congratulations for your
achievement, you should all be very proud, and thank you all for
your hospitality and generosity.

TERRANCE FIRMSTONE

Captain Golden Hawk

Sanur, Bali