“Yachts from Kupang will continue their voyage to Belitong through Komodo Island and Bali, while the other 28 yachts will go to Wakatobi via Ambon,” Syahrin Abdurahman, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s director for marine resources and fisheries control, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Syahrin said that two yachts from East Malaysia and two yachts from Singapore might join the vessels bound for Wakatobi. “The yachts from Singapore have not yet confirmed.”

The yachts previously departed en masse from Darwin, Australia, and will be underway for more than two months, visiting 21 Indonesian regencies. More than a hundred participants from 18 countries would take part in the event, according to the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.

The ministry said the number of participants would be 111 in 2011, up from 107 during last year’s
Sail Banda.

Sail Wakatobi-Belitong 2011, launched on July 16 and slated to end in October, is a follow-up
to Sail Banda in Maluku in 2010 and Sail Bunaken in North Sulawesi in 2009.

Teams are grouped into two divisions: those heading east and expected to arrive in Saumlaki, Maluku, between July 26 and July 30, and those heading west and expected to arrive in Kupang between July 27 and July 31.

The eastward division will sail to Ambon, Buru, Wakatobi, Bau-Bau and Makassar, while the westward division will head to Alor, Lembata, Ende and Alung.

Syahrin, who is also the secretary of the organizing committee, said that all events were proceeding according to plan.

The rally would run for two months and conclude in Singapore.

The Bhakti Surya Bhaskara Jaya social activity was almost finished in Southeast Sulawesi and would continue in North Sulawesi, he said.

The civic operation will be carried out in six provinces: Riau Island, Bangka Belitung in Sumatera Island, West Kalimantan, Gorontalo, Southeast Sulawesi and South Sulawesi.

Syahrin said that other activities in Wakatobi and Belitong, such as national and international seminars on marine and fisheries resource management, and underwater photography competitions, would be ongoing.

There are six main activities in this year regatta, including a yacht rally, the civic mission of Bhakti Surya Bhaskara Jaya, national and international seminars, marine and fishery product exhibitions, an archipelagic youth marine crossing and a peak event expected to be attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Sail Wakatobi–Belitong would also offer events such as an underwater chess competition, an underwater Independence Day celebration, underwater weddings, underwater photography competitions, the “1000 bikes Wakatobi tour” and the first Indonesian International Environmental Film Festival.

“The underwater wedding will be held on the third week of August in Wakatobi. Registration is still open until now,” Syahrin said.

Wakatobi’s regent, Hugua, told a press conference at the Communications and Information Ministry in Central Jakarta that about 44 couples currently had registered for the underwater wedding.

The couples were previously married and wished to renew their wedding vows under the water, according to Hugua.

Sail Wakatobi-Belitong 2011 is aimed at promoting tourism in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, and in Belitong. (drs)

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