Sail Indonesia Rally Report

We’re a little late in reporting this but, in late August, Convergence, the cat ketch-rigged Wylie 65 with freestanding masts owned by West Marine founder Randy Repass and his wife Sally-Christine, was first to finish in the Sail Indonesia Rally that started in Darwin. According to the ever more legendary Commodore Tompkins of the Mill Valley-based Wylie 38+ Flashgirl, who was along as crew with his wife Nancy, "The 550-mile event to Banda was billed as a race, but was so low-intensity as to be more of a cruise. There were several 50-ft catamarans with us, but it was all downwind in moderate breezes, allowing Convergence to average just under 10 knots."

Commodore’s wife Nancy had a slightly different take. "It was all a bit confusing because there were at least four events within Sail Indonesia starting at the same time: 1) Race to Banda, 2) Race to Ambon, 3) Rally to Banda, and 4) Rally to Kupang. Convergence was entered in the race to Banda along with 10 other boats. The sailing instructions had such a short time limit that only three boats finished within it. I think that the time limits should give anyone who makes all the effort to participate in such an event ample time to finish. It was a bit lumpy crossing the Arafura Sea, but once we got inside the island group the seas smoothed out nicely. When we arrived in Banda, the locals made quite a fuss over us. It turns out that Indonesia has invested some serious money in promoting sailing and tourism. The pavilion where the festivities took place in Banda was built specifically for this event a month or so before we arrived. So, in some ways, we have helped to improve things for the locals by sailing to their island. Banda is an exciting landfall, and the people were most welcoming. The Banda Islands, of course, are the famous Spice Islands where nutmeg was discovered in the old trading days."

As we mentioned in a previous Cruise Notes, a number of Ha-Ha vets were part of the 150 or boats that were in the four fleets. Sail Indonesia is noted for not being the most organized event, so it’s still unclear what other boats started and how they finished. But hey, that’s the sailing life.

Currently in the process of touring Bali, Java, Borneo and Sulawasi, Commodore and Nancy will soon return to Flashgirl in Queensland, Australia, and resume their cruise north inside the Great Barrier Reef. As for for Convergence, we presume she’s continuing on her way through Indonesia toward Malaysia and Thailand.