In February 2003 the Indonesian Confederation of Marine Tour Companies GAHWISRI was tasked by the Indonesian Government for ideas to increase the awareness of the eastern part of Indonesia. The idea was discussed at length and it was that there would be a second event - a rally to Kupang located on the western end of Indonesian Timor. This event was to be run in conjunction with the Darwin Bali Yacht Bali Race.

The event was supported by GAHAWISRI and to keep cost down and to ease the path through the Indonesian bureaucracy, they sponsored the Indonesian Cruising Permits (CAIT) and their knowledge of the Indonesian maritime regulations ensured wide support for the event

As a result in July 2003 two fleets left Darwin, the first group of 24 yachts went to Kupang and a second group of 23 yachts left for Bali one week later with the intention that they would link up in Bali for a combined party/presentation. This did not eventuate as the yachts that went to Kupang found that the waters of the eastern part of Indonesia have a lot to offer and they went cruising! Only one yacht from the fleet to Kupang made it to Bali in time for the celebrations and the presentation dinner went ahead without them.

2003 Darwin Bali Yacht Race Summary

14 August
The Race Presentation was held at the Bali Marina the Cruising Award were first Pegasus sailed by Austin and Kathleen Royle who sailed 1000 miles to within 10 miles of the finish, and when confronted with having to spend another night in the Lombok Strait pushing against 4 - 5 knots of current and no wind decided to motor to the finish, Second place was taken by the Swiss entry Batida skippered by Walter Fleisch and third by the yacht Star.

13 August
Rogue Wave and Phoenix have finished the race and arrived safely in Bali. The provisional race results announced on 10th August can now be confirmed. Congratulations to all placegetters.

11 August
Zepherus arrived in Bali at 15:37 Sunday, Swan II arrived 08:00 this morning. Rogue Wave is the only yacht still sailing and is expected in Bali sometime Tuesday (hopefully in time for the full moon party!).

10 August
Provisional results for this year's race are as follows:1st Australian Maid with a corrected time of 146 hours 8 minutes2nd Contessa with a corrected time of 176 hours 53 minutes3rd Reve with a corrected time of 200 hours 45 minutes All boats have now arrived with the exception of Zepherus, Swan II and Rogue Wave. Zepherus are at the harbour entrance, and are expected to finish later tonight. Swan II and Rogue Wave are expected tomorrow.Adriatica and Skua have arrived after the Kupang event, with more Kupang yachts expected tomorrow.A full moon party is planned for Tuesday night, and presentations will be on Thursday.

9 August
The fleet made up a lot of time yesterday with several boats expected to finish this afternoon. Batida and Ultimate Warrior have an ETA of 1500 hours today, Star and Pegasus are expected at 1600 hours and Free Radical is due in at 1800 hours. Duetto has an ETA of 0800 hours Sunday. Contessa, Damischa Rida, Reve and Revision II are all about 160 miles from Bali. Phoenix, Swan II and Zepherus have about 190 miles to go. Seas are 10 - 15 knots SSE with calm seas.

8 August
Quest finished at approximately 1800 hours on Thursday evening, 7th August.As at 0745 this morning, the majority of the fleet was some 200 miles from Bali, and includes Batida, Damischa Ridda, Duetto, Eupolonia, Free Radical, Pegasus, Reve, Revision II, Star and Ultimate Warrior.Swan II, Contessa, Zepherus and Phoenix have another 300-400 miles to go.Winds are still 12 - 15 knots SSE with calm seas.

7 August
Australian Maid crossed the finish line at 14:08:54 Australian CST today - congratulations to Jon and all crew members.At 16:15 this afternoon, Quest reported her position at 08°53' 115° 31' and gave an ETA of 18:30 today.The majority of the fleet is about 300 miles from Bali, and includes Batida, Damischa Ridda, Duetto, Eupolonia, Free Radical, Pegasus, Reve, Revision II, Star, Ultimate Warrior and Zepherus. still have some 480 miles to go.Rogue Wave was sighted at noon today, but a position report is not available.Winds are 12 - 15 knots from the south east and seas are calm

6 August
Australian Maid reported her position at 09° 37' 117° 59' at 1615 hours today, which puts her about 185 miles from the finish.Rogue Wave has been out of contact, but Australian Customs Coastwatch service radioed a sighting of her at midday today at 12° 38' 125° 13', which puts her some 300 miles out of Darwin.Contact was also made by Reve today, their position this morning was 10° 53' 123° 01', putting her about 485 miles from Bali.The fleet has spread out further since yesterday - there are now approximately 390 miles between the lead yacht and the back of the fleet.

5 August
As of 1600 today, Australian Maid was maintaining her lead and was located at 10° 55' 121° 58', approximately 360 miles from the finish, with an average speed today of 7 knots.The field is spread out over about 300 miles, and the boats in the back of the fleet include Phoenix at 11° 39' 126° 15', Revision II at 11° 34' 125° 37', Swan II at 11° 50' 126° 23', and Zepherus 12° 15' 125° 55'.Australian Maid's estimated time of arrival in Bali is Thursday lunchtime.Boats have reported a light easterly breeze of 6 knots.

4 August
At 1600, Australian Maid had covered 62 miles since the morning sched and is located at 10°47' 123°59'. Other positions included Batida: 11°37' 126°21', 262 miles from Darwin; Contessa: 11°45' 126°22', 260 miles from Darwin; Duetto: 11°43' 126°35', 248 miles from Darwin; Eupolonia: 11°33' 126°02', 281 miles from DarwinThe yachts are spread out over 180 miles with Zepherus at 12°17' 126°57'Yachts reported ENE breeze of 5 knots.At 0800 hours, Australian Maid was 346 miles from Darwin, located at 11°14' 125°07'. Since the last sched at 1600 on 3 August, Australian Maid covered 135 miles overnight, averaging 9 knots. She has averaged 7.5 knots since leaving Darwin, and at the current rate of progress, will be in Bali on Friday.Reve was 227 miles from Darwin, located at 12°05' 126°59', covering 85 miles since the last sched - an average of 6 knots. Other positions included Eupolonia: 11°46' 127°39', 252 miles from Darwin; Quest: 11°53' 125°32', 314 miles from Darwin; Revision II: 12°04' 127°17', 210 miles from Darwin; Star: 11°52' 127°09', 221 miles from Darwin; Swan II: 11°46' 127°38', 194 miles from Darwin; Ultimate Warrior: 11°42' 126°56, 302 miles from Darwin.Yachts reported a 10 knot easterly breeze and flat seas.

3 August
At 1600 hours today, Australian Maid was stretching her lead over the fleet, and was located at 11°49' 127°12', some 211 miles out of Darwin.Other positions included Pegasus: 11°55' 128°17', 175 nautical miles from Darwin, Free Radical: 12°18' 128° 24', 160 nautical miles from Darwin, Damischa Ridda: 12°02' 128°39', 150 miles from Darwin, and Contessa: 12°00' 128° 21', 167 miles from Darwin.Yachts reported SE winds calming to about 10 knots, with lumpy seas.At 0800 hours Australian Maid was leading the fleet, located at 11°47' 128°34', 129 miles from Darwin.Eupolonia was in second position at 12°03' 129°05', 107 miles from Darwin. Back markers in the fleet were Swan II and Rogue Wave, 78 miles from Darwin.Yachts reported a quiet night, with SE winds picking up to 15-20 knots in the morning. 2 AugustAt 1600 hours today the Australian Maid was located at 12° 19' 130° 02' , 53 miles from Darwin followed by Pegasus and Reve 11 miles behind with Duetto and Phoenix a further 12 miles behind them.

The Rally was started at 11 am in perfect conditions from the Darwin based converted pearl lugger Anniki . The yachts quickly left the harbour in a following southeast breeze of 15 - 18 knots. First across the start line was the Darwin yacht Australian Maid skippered Jon Wardill followed by Ultimate Warrior, Contessa and Pegasus.

2003 Darwin Kupang Rally Summary

1 August
All yachts are now in Kupang with Famos the last to arrive. Pollen Path won the "Real Cruiser" award for sailing the entire course. Ambrosia for the "Cleanest Yacht" award as they arrived during an unseasonal downpour, Mintaka II was awarded the "Radio Active " award for assisting with radio schedules and position reporting. Many are now leaving Kupang and heading for Bali to participate in the end of race celebrations at the Bali Marina with the remainder now preparing to cruise through eastern Indonesia.

31 July
At 0800 only the yacht Famos had not yet arrived in Kupang and was 13 miles from the finish.
The crews of the yachts in Kupang having fun on waterfall tours and bus trips to a number of places of interest. As communications with the fleet have become difficult from Darwin, the yacht Mintaka II is handling the communications enabling updates to be passed back to this web site.

30 July
The 16:00 report from Kupang said that only three yachts had not arrived, they are Famos, Matelot and Pollen Path.
At 08:00 Mintaka II Delicado and Solara had arrived during the night with the following yachts at sea at 0800. Ambrosia, Chalupa, Famos, Happy Now, Matelot, Pollen Path, and Skua was only 10 miles from the finish.

29 July
At 1600 today the following yachts had arrived in Kupang, Adriatica, Cygnus II, Danza, Dave the Cat, Graefin V, High Drama, Lady Meg, Muddy Water and Raynad. The rest of the fleet is approaching Timor in the still light conditions.
At 0800 Jubileaum was in Kupang and Adriatica was 13 miles from the western tip of Timor, there are a group of yachts including Lady Meg, Danza and High Drama 15 - 20 miles out that are expected into Kupang today. Again conditions were very light with yachts reporting breezes of around 10 knots. The German yacht Skua, the last of the group still had 130 miles to go and Happy Now has made up ground and 220 miles from the finish.

28 July
At 1600 the yachts were still experiencing light conditions with the lead yacht Adriatica 150 miles from the southern entrance to the Roti Strait. Chalupa is 210 miles out and Skua and Pollen Path are further back with about 230 miles to go. Jubileaum is expected in at 1200 on the 29th. All yachts called in on the 1600 radio sched and reported that the passage has been trouble free.
At 0800 the leading yachts were 200 miles from Kupang in winds of 8-10 knots with lumpy seas and expecting to arrive in Kupang on the 29th , the yachts at the back of the fleet were around 50 miles behind.

27 July
At 1600 hours the fleet was experiencing light conditions of 10 knots from the SE with lumpy seas, making around 4 knots headway. The fleet was spread over 58 miles, with Italian yacht Adriatica leading the fleet, covering 232 miles from Darwin since start. German yacht Skua was the back marker in the fleet having covered 174 miles from Darwin. A close rivalry is developing among a number of yachts, with Horai, Muddy Water, Perky Sr and Sabi Star all within sight of each other.
At 0800 the yachts were sailing in 10-15 knot Southeast breeze with the leaders 150 miles from Darwin. Happy Now returned to Darwin late on the 26th with a minor electrical problem and left for Kupang at 1200. All yachts reported a quiet night with light conditions.

26 July
At 1600 hours today the yachts reported that they were experiencing very light conditions and were all in a group approximately 25 NM from Darwin. Delicado's position was 12°18'S 130°27'E near the front of the fleet, along with Graefin V and High Drama.
The Rally was started at 11 am in perfect conditions from the Darwin based converted pearl lugger Anniki . The yachts quickly left the harbour in a following southeast breeze of 15 - 18 knots. First across the start line was the USA registered Chalupa skippered by K. P. Chin with the Italian yacht Adriatica skippered by Luigi Nava less than a metre behind.