labuan to kota kinabalu yacht race27july2012

this was the 3rd of 4 scheduled races in BIYC (borneo international yacht challenge).there are 4 classes-serious,cruising A,cruising B ,and multihulls.there are 18 cruisers.they created 2 categories based on handicaps.we are in the higher handicap group=A.Inthe 1st race,the day event in miri,we came last.notrealising which wHich way to cross start line,not using MPS and some congestion around the buoys.our first race,and lots of fun.In the 2 nd race,from miri to labuan,about 110nm,so an overnight race,we started at 2pm,sailed through the night,till the wind suddenly stopped about 7am.so we waited half an hour,then motored 3 hours to finnish about 10.30. We came 6 th out of 9.
The 3rd race was from labuan to kota kianabalu,about 70 nautical miles,starting 10am.lovely seeing all the boats out for the start.we all had to do numerous tacks into the wind to clear the bay,but when we did we were on a great tack,looking like we could go all the way to KK.alas the wind changed at a crucial point,about to go up a channel,clearing a reef to port,with me doing 1 st watch,& kerry asleep,so I had to go way out to west.fickle winds till morning.starting to think of motoring as race cutoff  was 10am.if you motor ,you declare it,and pay a 2.5x penalty,but if you motor you place after any boat that doesnt motor.luckily the wind came up and we got in without motoring,with 10minutes to spare!so we came third!!
They had a lovely dinner at the marina resort hotel with traditional dancing display,free beer,and prize presentation.we got this lovely wooden hornbill trophy.this could be the start and finnish of our racing career.
On the 27 july we went out for the 4 th and final biyc race,a day race.out betwen the islands at 9am for 10 am start but after delaying race due to lack of wind,they finally cancelled races for cruisers,but still did race for the serious racers.so we decided to follow them,picked up some nice wind,and had a
Lovely days sailing,.
We even got our MPS out of its bag.mps = multipurpose spinaler.it came with haven when we bought her,and was still as brandnew.after reading 3 books we had a good idea of how to sail it,but not 100% sure so somewhat reluctantly