RALLY

Sail Indonesia, our Organization and Mission

Sail Indonesia is a non commercial organization dedicated to promoting Indonesia as a destination for cruising yachts and to introduce you to some of the most historic, exciting and interesting sailing destinations anywhere in the world and to raise awareness of Indonesia as a Marine Tourism destination.

This English language web site is to promote, co-ordinate and organize the yachts that leave Darwin to participate in the Sail Indonesia Rally then on to Singapore and Sail Malaysia.

Sail Indonesia's events across Indonesia are arranged in cooperation with the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Affairs, the Indonesian Marine Foundation YCBI and are supported by all levels of the the Indonesian Government we now work in co-operation with Raffles Marina in Singapore and Sail Malaysia.

Origins
In December of 2000 as a result of an initiative from Dr Aji Sularso from the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and with the support of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism it was decided to try to arrange a series of coordinated yacht races and rallies originating from both Darwin and Fremantle in Western Australia to Bali, then on to Pulau Seribu north of Jakarta and finally to Batam just south of Singapore.
It was planned that these events would carry on the traditions of the Darwin to Ambon Yacht Race which had been held for over 20 years from 1976 but had ceased in 1999 as a result of civil unrest on the island of Ambon and the surrounding islands.

Sail Indonesia was formed to promote, manage and org anise the technical aspects of these events and for ease of communication and to keep costs down our events are organized by using our web site and email only.
As a result in July 2001 a fleet of 16 yachts left Darwin for Bali, however the fleet from Fremantle did not eventuate. Although small the 2001 event was a regarded as a success and plans were made for a second event in 2002. The 2002 Darwin Bali Race event attracted a total of 20 yachts and this too was regarded as a success with a send off party in Darwin and a formal reception and presentation and dinner at the Royal Bali Yacht Club at Benoa in Bali.

Following the 2002 Darwin to Bali Race discussions were held in Bali regarding the possibility of including sailing destinations in Indonesia to the east of Bali because the yachts that had gone direct to Bali had missed the beautiful cruising areas in the waters off the islands to the east, including Timor, Alor, Lembata, Flores, Rinca, Komodo, Sumbawa and Lombok.

In February 2003 at meetings in Bali between Sail Indonesia, representatives from the Indonesian Central Government and the Federation of Indonesian Marine Tour Operators (GAHAWISRI ) ideas were discussed to raise awareness of tourism, especially marine tourism in the eastern provinces of Indonesia, following this Sail Indonesia was asked to arrange a Yacht Rally from Darwin to Kupang in Timor in 2003 to be run at the same time as the Darwin to Bali Race.

In July 2003 two fleets left Darwin with 23 yachts going direct to Bali and 24 yachts going to Kupang. The two events were again successful with the overall numbers increasing each year, these events ran together in 2003 and again in 2004, however in 2005 as there was no yachts wanting to take the direct route to Bali, the direct route to Bali was cancelled and 69 yachts went first to Kupang with Kupang becoming the Eastern Gateway for yachts sailing into Indonesia.

Following the Darwin to Kupang Rally Sail Indonesia then offered a 3 month series of events for the participants throughout Indonesia in Alor, Lembata, Riung, Labuan Bajo, Makassar, Bali, Kumai, Karimun Java and Belitung. The Local Government Offices at each location arrange a number of art and cultural displays, tours and dinners.

These events enable participants to visit places unique and interesting places well away from the well worn tourist areas and experience the local traditional and unspoiled island life. The development of these new destinations across Indonesia are a result of ongoing Indonesian Government initiatives and support, they are being introduced, improved and added to on an ongoing basis.

Sail Indonesia increased in popularity every year, in 2006 the number of entries reached a total of 96 yachts and increased again in 2007 to 123 yachts. In 2008 117 yachts participated and it seems that around 120 yachts will be the expected number each year.

In 2009 Sail Indonesia worked in partnership with Indonesia's main marine event Sail Bunaken 2009 which was held off the city of Manado in north Sulawesi. 132 yachts left Darwin for Saumlaki on July 18 however the fleet was disrupted with some yachts choosing to go north for Sail Bunaken while others went directly to the west and as a result some stopovers were bypassed and some were cancelled. However for 2010 the program of events has returned to the traditional program west from Darwin as in previous years.

While there is no overall governing body, Sail Indonesia is a key part of this group of independent organizations that use the the Sail Indonesia Rally and the programs that follow as promotional events to raise awareness of tourism and especially marine tourism in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Sail Indonesia has associates in Darwin, Kupang, Bali, Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and any of the organizers can be contacted by email at mail@sailindonesia.net.