SAILING was surely not Melvin Aeria’s cup of tea if you had asked him a decade ago but the 33-year-old now not only finds himself being a huge fan of the sport but also the emcee for the country’s prestigious Monsoon Cup challenge in Terengganu.
Aeria admitted that he did not know anything about the sport when he first said yes to being the emcee.
“I had no clue about what they were talking about, the terms and what each sailor had to do or about the rules.
“I knew nothing at all, not even what the port and starboard was and yet I was there explaining all this in layman’s terms to those watching the competition,” said Aeria who hails from Malacca.
Hands on: Aeria (second from left) with his team during the match-racing sailing course. He said he spent about one and a half months reading up on sailing and the event, as well as being in Pulau Duyong a few days earlier so that he could talk to the race empires, team managers and sailors for some information.
“It is easy to learn from professionals like them as they are always ready to answer my questions and explain things I don’t understand on sailing,” he said.
Aeria said after hosting the event since it began in 2005, he decided to try out sailing to understand the sport better.
He then approached the organisers to join the match-racing sailing course which was initially opened to advanced sailors only.
“They allowed me to join and after some classes, I joined my team members on the F-36 yacht and we raced. My team won,” said Aeria, who also had a short stint on Astro hosting the Beijing Olympics last year.
After completing the course Aeria returned home to Kuala Lumpur and as he felt that he needed some basic skills on sailing, he took up a basic sailing course at the Putrajaya Lake.
“I know so much about match-racing but have no basic skills so I knew I had to learn more,
He later found himself sailing on the laser boat, which is not as easy as seen on TV.
“It was just me on the boat unlike at the Monsoon Cup where there were four to five men on the F-36 boat.
“On the laser, you will be able to feel every move you make on the boat, especially when you try to steer this 10-footer boat and it is not easy at all,” said Aeria who spends most of his weekends on a rented boat at the Putrajaya lake to perfect his skills.
Catch Aeria at the upcoming Monsoon Cup in Terengganu as it is in the ninth and final stage of the World Match Racing Tour where 12 of the best match racing teams would meet to compete from Dec 2 to 6.
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