News : Cruise for Jeremy

2010/10/23
By Zainuddin Muhammad



Skipper Jeremy Koo with his Racing Team crew after winning the title yesterday. — Picture by Rozainah Zakaria


IT was big brother Jeremy Koo's turn to find fame in the Malaysian Match Racing Championships (MMRC) after cruising to a 3-0 victory over sister and two-time champion Tiffany in the final at Pulau Duyong yesterday.

The 29-year-old skipper of Koo Racing Team, who beat Team Malaysia One helmsman Nik Ashraf Qaedi Nik Azizan in the semi-finals, was in his element in the race-to-five final and provided little room for his 26-year-old sibling -- champion in 2006 and 2007, to mount a challenge.

With 19 years of sailing experience and multiple titles under his belt, Jeremy said it was about time he won the national qualifiers, which booked him a place in the Monsoon Cup proper on Nov 30-Dec 5.


"When we found out that Tiffany would race against us in the final, we knew we had a slight advantage as we were better prepared than her newly assembled team.

"We have been hitting the gymnasium for quite a while now and we knew that we would be tougher and stronger than them, and we were proven right in the end," Jeremy said after receiving the winners' trophy from Monsoon Cup adviser Datuk Peter Gilmour.

Defending champion Hazwan Hazim Dermawan of Pulse AC Law, beaten by Tiffany in the semi-final, settled for third place after defeating Nik Ashraf in the playoff.


Fifth place went to Nurul Elia Anuar of Sail Putrajaya who defeated Mohamad Razali Mansor of Malaysia Armed Forces One while Rizal Mahadi Sazili of Royal Selangor Yacht Club beat Mohd Masyuri Rahmat of Malaysian Yachting Association for seventh place.

Source & Credits
Read more: Cruise for Jeremy http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/oafiuhu/Article/#ixzz13KsTp6CX

News: Top skippers to battle for Monsoon Cup berth

TWO former champions will battle eight top skippers for the right to represent Malaysia in the Monsoon Cup when the Malaysian Match Racing Championship (MMRC) gets under way tomorrow.

Tiffany Koo (Koo Racing Team), the 2006 and 2007 MMRC winner, is returning in an attempt to complete a hat-trick of wins, while defending champion Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (Team Pulse AC Law), boosted by a major sponsorship deal with Pulse Group PLC and AC Law, a leading corporate law firm, has set his sights on loftier goals.

Hazwan's new sponsorship deal will see him lead the first all-Malaysian team to a WMRT event outside of Malaysia when they compete in the Korea Match Cup Qualifiers next year.


But first, he and Tiffany will face a big test in the MMRC, scheduled for Kuala Terengganu. The Asian Match Racing Championships will follow on Oct 25-28.

Eight other teams - Jeremy Koo (Koo Racing Team Evernew), Mohd Razali Mansor (MAF1), Rizal Mahadi (RSYC), Abdul Rahim Mohd Zan (Perak), Mohd Masyuri (MYA), Nurul Elia Anuar (Sail Putrajaya), Nik Ashraf Nik Qaedi (Malaysia One) and Jerome Welch (Putrajaya 5 O) - will be out to deny Tiffany and Hazwan.

Nurul, the 2009 Monsoon Sailing School (MSS) Most Promising Sailor, was also a losing MMRC finalist last year.


But with a year's experience under her belt, she could be a big threat. Masyuri, who is preparing for next month's Asian Games after winning the recent national trials, is another sailor with big ambitions.

With Armed Forces teammate Razali, the duo have been competing in the MMRC since 2006 and both are determined to end their losing streak.

Jeremy has tasted victory as a member of the crew when his sister Tiffany won in 2006 and 2007.


He was a losing semi-finalist last year and will want to show that a winning mentality is very much a Koo family trait.

The winners of the MMRC and AMRC will each earn a ticket to the Monsoon Cup, the final race of the World Match Racing Tour season, on Nov 30-Dec 5.

Source & Credits
Read more: Top skippers to battle for Monsoon Cup berth http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/42LAYAR/Article#ixzz12m6uhjN9

News : Tiffany going for hat-trick

THE biggest name in this year's Malaysian Match Racing Championship (MMRC) is undoubtedly Tiffany Koo, a two-time winner of the event.

Tiffany, who emerged champion in 2006 and 2007, has been training hard in her attempt to make it a winning hat-trick when she represents the Royal Selangor Yacht Club (RSYC) racing under the name of Koo Racing Team.

This year's three-day MMRC is at Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort and Spa in Pulau Duyong starting on Wednesday and will be followed by the Asian Match Racing Championship on Oct 25-28. The winners earn a berth in the Nov 30-Dec 5 Monsoon Cup at the same venue. A third qualifier will be the winner of the SunseekerAustralia Cup.


The three will join the top eight sailors in the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) plus one wild card in the Monsoon Cup, the season ending race on the WMRT. The world's top sailors will all be in Terengganu with five skippers still in the race to be crowned world champion.

After eight of the nine rounds in this season's WMRT, Mathieu Richard has accumulated 105 points to lead defending World Champion and 2009 Monsoon Cup winner Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing by 15 points.

Britain's Ben Ainslie of Teamorigin. a multiple Olympic gold medallist, is a further two points behind Minoprio but has the momentum after his stunning victory in the recent Argo Gold Cup, the penultimate round of the WMRT.


Torvar Mirsky's Mirsky Racing Team of Australia and two-time world champion Ian Williams' Team GAC Pindar of Britain are the other skippers still in with a chance to top the standings.

Dane Jesper Radich of the Radich Racing Team, Italian Francesco Brunic of Azzurra and Australian Peter Gilmour of YANMAR Racing round up the top eight, who all get automatic berths to the Monsoon Cup.

Tiffany, who won a gold medal in the laser category at the 2001 Sea Games, will start as the hot favourite to regain the title.


Defending MMRC champion Hazwan Hazim, who has returned to Perak a year after winning the title while sailing for Terengganu, will be Tiffany's main rival in this year's competition. Nurul Ain Mohd Isa, the 2008 MMRC Champion, will not be racing.

Source & Credits
Read more: Tiffany going for hat-trick http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/40sailtiffany/Article#ixzz12h3QxAyw