Tanjung Lesung wants to invite neighbors to windsurfing event
Tanjung Lesung wants to invite neighbors to windsurfing event
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Tanjung
After three consecutive years of competition involving local
contenders, the Tanjung Lesung windsurfing committee is looking
to reach out to neighboring countries to take part in the next
edition of the event.
"We will be seeking to invite surfers from other countries,
such as Thailand and Singapore, to the tournament next year,"
said David Knowles, a committee official.
He was speaking during a media briefing on the sidelines of
the International Regatta 2002 event in Tanjung Lesung, Banten,
which was wrapped up last Sunday.
The regatta was launched as the first series of a planned
four-leg circuit. The second series will be staged in Lampung in
July.
The event, which coincided with a drive demo organized by main
sponsor Ford Ranger, attracted up to 100 surfers, including a
number of Indonesia-based foreigners from six different
countries.
The number of participants, according to Knowles, was a
fourfold increase over last year.
"And I expect the number will rise further next year when we
go ahead with the plan to bring in surfers from neighboring
countries," said Knowles, who originally hails from Britain.
Tanjung Lesung, a 20-kilometer long peninsula about a three-
hour drive to the southwest of Jakarta, is located on the western
tip of Java Island.
Matthijs Wiggers, an official of the Tanjung Lesung Sailing
Club, said the club would build more cottages in anticipation of
a likely increase in the number of visitors to the site.
"We already have 12 cottages and more may have to be added.
With the competition likely to be expanded, more people will
arrive here," he told The Jakarta Post.
"With a hotel resort only a ten-minute drive from here,
Tanjung Lesung is the ideal site for an international-level
sailing tournament," he added.
Meanwhile, Oka Sulaksana, a national surfer who is currently
preparing for the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, complained
about the below-standard organization of the competition given
the fact that more than one class was competing in one-off races.
"This causes clashes among the boats which hinders movement.
In a real competition, they are staged separately," said Oka, who
is going on an overseas outing to the Netherlands next May.
Oka, a gold medalist in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and
16th-placed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, outperformed his
opponents to win the men's Mistral division.
His fellow Balinese Subagiasa finished in second place,
followed by Mento of South Sulawesi.
Fadly, who represented South Sulawesi, was too strong for
local hopeful Junaidi, who trailed behind by a lopsided margin of
points in the Race-board competition.
The event involved contests in eight classes. The other
winners included Sujatmiko from East Java in the men's Laser
class, Nora Agus (Banten) in the women's Laser, Riki (North
Sulawesi) in the boys' Optimist, Kholifatus (North Sulawesi) in
the girls' Optimist, the West Java team in the Dinghy Open and
Subiantoro (Navy headquarters) in the Laser Master.