Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), in partnership with Terengganu Sports Council and Terengganu Windsurfing Sailing Association (TWSA), will be organizing a virtual sailing tournament today in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has prevented the holding of the actual tournament.

The tournament, called UMT Terengganu e-Sailing League 2020, will be organized on Virtual Regatta, an online real time ocean race simulator.

UMT Sailing Centre Director Mohd Hafizi Said said that the objectives of the tournament are to increase the motivation of the sailors and to become a teaching platform for students and young sailors.

The virtual tournament will enable the athletes to continue with the training because it is just like real sailing races that require knowing the rules and applying strategies, he said.

The six-series tournament will gather 170 participants from the local region and overseas countries. A total of 36 participants are from institutions of higher learning, three are national athletes preparing for the Olympic (Road to Tokyo), two are from Indonesia, two are from Brunei, and the other two are from the disabled category.

There are six categories of competitions, which are Overall, IPT Non-open, Under 12, Age 13-15, Age 16-21, and Over 22.

Former national sailor Khairuddin Abdul Ghani, who is taking part in the virtual tournament, said that it will help to lessen his longing for being in the real race.

“I started to try my hand at sailing when I was eight. At the time, I was at the boat optimist level only. Because of health issues, I did continue,” he said.

He also said he was excited after finding out about the tournament and would make use of all the skilled he had previously learned.

The virtual tournament will be maintained even though the COVID-19 pandemic is gone, as it is one of the ways to discover the e-sailors who will be chosen to compete in the World e-Sailing Championship held every year, Mohd Hafizi said.

For further information:

Mohd Hafizi Said
Director
Sailing Training Centre
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT)
Tel : 013-9190012

Published by:

Corporate Communication Centre
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu