Welcome to the Miri Magic Soft-Launching
07
October 2006
Port Dickson, Malaysia.
Launching a boat is supposed to be one of the happiest days of a boat owners life - Capt Marty from AsianYachting Ventures Sdn Bhd in PD, Malaysia has dedicated over 10 years of his working life, to training sailors and directing racing teams in Asian waters. He has longed for the day, when we launch our own yacht to use for a multiple of sailing purposes including training for match and fleet racing events.
The
opportunity came along over a year ago when attending the ISAF Jury Seminar
in Pattaya. Over lunch on the lay-day at Ocean Marina - Kiwi/Thai racing
guru Bill Gasson exclaimed that he would be very interested in selling
his Malcolm Runnalls designed Buzz 8, mini-offshore racer plus all the
fiberglass moulds Buzzcat, Thailand built, in a one-off lump sum deal.
We knew we had our
work cut-out as past experiences resulting from the 1997 financial collapse,
raising bank finance on a boat is still considered risky business in Asia.
A
desperate bid was made for financial support, sponsors, form partnerships
or convince the coastal resorts and regional sailing authorities that
indicated they would like to conduct keelboat courses, to commit to buying
some suitable training boats - This was not as easy as we thought.
After advising Troy Yaw and his Miri men in Sarawak on a racing program
for his Team Ulumulu and becoming a media partner for the Borneo Race
- It was a natural progression for a boating minded, regional marina owner,
in an area devoid of any racing boats, to team up with experienced professionals
and try to build some boats that forfill these requirements.
Mmmm? The 110nm Labuan
- Miri Race requires a keelboat with offshore racing capabilities
and the Raja Muda
06 has three over night passage races, which requires Safety
Category 3 (modified) and the RORC have sanctioned the event for yachts
with a STIX (Righting Moments) value higher than 22 and we welcome them
aboard as one of their Offshore Classics in Asia.
Malcolm
assured Capt Marty that the Runnalls 8 with its 650kg lifting keel, lead
bulb and a RORC STIX value of 28.69 - is way above the legal requirements!
With a change over to regulation pushpit, stanchions, pulpit and lifelines,
fitting electric navigation lights, 12v solar battery power, communication
equipment and complying to ISAF Safety Cat 3 - IRC Measurement requirements
converts the boat from a day match racer to a mini offshore racer and
has kept us busy for the last three months - Not to mention do the costing's
and pricing to launch five more of these little beauties onto the Asian
scene...
Nervous
launch day...
Over the centuries boat launchings have been surrounded by superstition and steep in tradition. Although the crew maybe ready, it is usually the boat that has an uncanny knack of telling them when it is ready. Perhaps that is why a boat is referred to as 'she' in the western world. This day was no different. A heavy overnight downpour saw the dawn of a spectacular clear blue sky and sunny day replacing the smoke haze that has engulfed most of SE Asia for the last few weeks. A good omen to start with and made for good photography throughout the day.
After
wheeling the now re-branded Miri Magic out of the rented workshop and
adjustments made to the newly fitted brakes, it was off to the PD World
Marina boat ramp for launching. Upon arrival it was low tide - something
we had not even looked at but gave us plenty of time to complete final
preparations.
The whole day was planned to as a soft launching for friends, supporters and people that have worked on the project to drop in if they can make it to PD. Nothing formal or meeting any protocol for dignitaries. A special thanks must go to Derek Selpri for the loan of his Cherokee Jeep that preformed admirably on this occasion. Everything went smoothly including the new Mercury 5hp outboard staring first time and Capt Fin specially over from Miri Marina piloting her around to Admiral Marina together with cruising Jim Ellis and Dutch William for the mast stepping and champagne ceremony.
Allot
of interest was generated on the road with a fully registered trailer
and in the marina as a boat launching does not come along every day which
always stirs the emotions and excites people, even some that are not remotely
interested in boating. Amazingly we found out afterwards that Saturday
07 Oct was the full moon which marks the halfway point of the Muslim month
of Ramadan. As the day went well with fantastic weather and 'she' was
ready, perhaps it is a good omen for the future. We certainly hope so
and after putting it all together, the Miri Magic is everything designer
Malcolm Runnalls has described her to be and she certainly did not disappoint
us on our first outing.
Full dimensions and further details on the Miri Magic can be found at: http://asianyachting.com/AYmasters/Promotion/Runnels8.htm
Interested in setting up a Asian Yachtmaster Training Center in your region? GO Here...
 |
 |
 |
AsianYachting
Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Co.
No. 627106-T)
A 308 PD Perdana Condo Resort, Jln Pantai, 71050, Pt Dickson, Malaysia
Tel: 6 06 6477701 Email: info@asianyachting.com
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Yachting at http://AsianYachting.com