Monsoon at the Monsoon Cup

3:49 AM Wed 2 Dec 2009 GMT

'Monsoon Cup practice in the monsoon rain' Sail-World.com /AUS &copy Click Here to view large photo

Monsoonal rains in Kuala Terengganu on the east coast of Malaysia with more than 200mm (8') in the last 24 hours, has provided a dramatic backdrop to the 2009 Monsoon Cup, the final event in the 2009 World Match Racing Tour.

Overnight there were more heavy thunderstorms and during the skippers briefing this morning, driving rain with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning.

David Tallis, Principal Race Officer commented 'Rain is not a problem for us, unless it is so torrential that the loss of visibility makes racing unsafe, but we will come off the water if there is local lightning.'

Rain has currently eased, just ahead of the scheduled start time but heavy thunderstorms are predicted for later this afternoon.

Upstream the Terengganu River is heavily swollen, with many villages and towns flooded and the currents are sweeping fast across the Palau Duyong (Mermaid Island) Basin course and downstream to the river mouth. The current flow across the Basin varies dramatically with the tide, most of the volume coming from the southern side of the Island from the rear of the starting box.

Today the Round Robin is scheduled to commence at 1200 local time and for most of the afternoon the tide will be flooding in from the South China Sea, just two miles to the east. With a tidal range of 1.7 metres, there will be some turbulent flow and serious tidal races on the right hand side of the course.

Defending Champion Peter Gilmour won the inaugural event in 2005 and again in 2008. He knows the current better than any of the 12 competing skippers and it will be a brave opponent who is on the opposite side of the course to Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing Team in the early part of the series.

Monsoon Cup 2009:

Adam Minoprio (NZL) ENTZ/Black Match Racing

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing

Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar

Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team

Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing

Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin

Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team

Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE

Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge

Francesco Bruni (ITA) Team Azzura

Phil Robertson (NZL) Team New Zealand WAKA Racing

Hazwan Hazim Dermanwan (MAS) Tarian Pelangi TESA

by Rob Kothe

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