PSC S are associate members of MSA and therefore entitled to attend their
meetings , usually all in Malay so pointless , this one however I considered
interesting as a topic and to meet some of those involved in sailing but more
particularly organising sailing events , apart from 5 from Selangor , Terenganu
Kelantan Negri Sembilan , Johor and Perak were represented
The instructor was a Mr Ajit Diaz from Chennai one of the top measurers in
Asia and a representative of World Sailing based in UK but the ruling authority
of all sailing , Olympics , America s Cup and all regattas which are sanctioned
by them , it’s a money making body , under this are the National Sailing
Authorities in this case for Malaysia the MSA
The organiser of this was Lawrence Yeow from PD who is involved in most of
the Malaysian sailing and has been for many years , his commitment and
dedication has in many ways kept Malaysian sailing going , He is a member of
PD Yacht Club ,it seems MSA have lost the long term sponsorship of KFC ,
sailing in general is funded by the various states sporting foundations
For members benefit ,as frankly although I have been racing internationally for
50 years I knew little of this…..the organisation for any REGATTA goes
WORLD SAILING > NATIONAL AUTHORITY >ORGANISING AUTHORITY = YACHT
CLUB > ( notice of race, appointing the race committee , appointing the Jury
/Protest Committee , appointing Technical Committee )
So at regatta level we have RACE COMMITTEE , JURY /PROTEST COMMITTEE ,
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE which is what the seminar was about . During or just
before the Technical committee are responsible for ensuring all the
participating boats have proper class certification and checking that parts are
compliant with this , this can be anything from certs on boats to checking that
buoyancy equipment is compliant ( ALL PLEASE NOTE LIFE JACKETS MUST BE
ISO COMPLIANT used to be called EN or AUS PTD , this is a sticker on the life
jacket 50 is enough for us , the rougher the possible conditions the higher the
number required ) and most complex that the sails are measured and
compliant , with the dinghies where the manufacturers are restricted the sails
are delivered measured , this means a stamp or even a fitting punched through
, even then for a championship the sails must be re measured ( I had always
understood sails shrunk but apparently they stretch , )
For the Squib sails we should really measure them , other things are black band
on mast a boom , the sail must not pass the inner edge not the outer edge as I
have always thought
I will leave the course papers in the Gym Room at Pulau Indah for anyone
interested to look at but I have copied the part about the life jackets/buoyancy
aids
For the practical part of the course we all went to the Selangor Sailing Center
at Morib ( and if Pulau Indah is remote this is far worse,2 hours from KL) a wide
and gentle ramp onto the beach , it was the Selangor State Regatta but
attended by boats from Singapore and Indonesiaas well , classes were Opis (
inc RSYC s ) Lasers 4.7 and full rig plus 420 s total 160 boats !
Mostly but not entirely Malay , children with parents
The second purpose of my attendance was to meet the representatives of
various states , the 4 ladies from Selangor were for us the most interesting in
trying to establish our junior section , unlike RSYC we are a sailing club and can
fit a junior section into our club , Whether anything will come of this is far
from certain but one lady who has represented Malaysia internationally Puan
Nurul Ain has now agreed to come and see what we have ,
I just feel we have so much to offer
Jeremy Camps
Commodore
PSC S
22/12/22