"Convergence" wins Sail Banda 2010

Theyacht "Convergence" skippered by Randolph Kent Repass of the US, hasbeen declared the champion of the international marine event Sail Banda 2010.
Randolph was therefore on Tuesday night presented with the Maritime Affairs andFisheries Minister`s trophy by Maluku Vice Governor Said Assagaff at a ceremonyheld at Tantui Nusantara Fish Port as the mooring location of the yachtsparticipating in Sail Banda.

Convergence, a multi-hull yacht from the US, was the first to arrive at BandaIsland on Monday, July 26, 2010 at 4.45 p.m. Eastern Indonesia Standard Time(WIT) after being flagged off at Darwin`s Cullen Bay, Australia, on July 24.

The second yacht to arrive in Banda was "Pegasus" of England, skipperedby Jason Charles Lawrence, who was eligible to receive the Maluku Governor`strophy.

While "First Light III" of Australia, skippered by Bernard JohnMcGoldrick, came in third as it arrived in Banda at 8 on Tuesday morning, July27. Bernard received the Sail Banda Committee`s trophy.

The first three yachts were followed by six others, namely "Catspaw"of England which was skippered by Peter Richard Whitby, "Magnetic" ofNew Zealand by Trevor Clifford Clark, "Erica" of New Zealand by ErickFrederik Gray, "Umbra Luna" of Australia by Dale Lynn Clemons, and"Miranda I" of Australia by Goyffrey Philip Rawlins Birch.

Sail Banda 2010, organized by the central government in cooperation with Malukuprovincial administration, is participated in by 49 yachts from five countries.

World Batik Exhibition

Theorganizing committee of the World Batik Summit (WBS) here hopes to record Rp22billion worth of transactions during the five-day event.

"We hope to achieve an increase in the value of transactions compared totwo years ago when the figure was Rp18 billion," Chairwoman of the WBS`sWorld Batik Exhibition (WBE) Murniati Widodo said here on Friday.

The World Batik Summit`s program will include a World Batik Exhibition wherebatik trade transactions are expected to take place.

"The number of participants is expected to be much higher than during aprevious exhibition, so the quantity of business transactions will alsoincrease significantly. Besides, the quality of batik products made inIndonesia and other countries has also improved," Murniati said.

The WBE will become a promotion forum for batik producers, practitioners,craftsmen, and businessmen.

The exhibition will have three themes, namely :"Multi-Partnership:Bringing Batik To The World", "Batik`s Contribution to the CreativeEconomy", and "Batik as a Cultural Heritage: Conservation andModernization".

"Up to now, 641 people from a number of countries have already registeredfor participation in the summit. It is double the figure last year," Murniatisaid.

She said the number of participants might reach over 700.

The World Batik Exhibition is a biennial event, while the first and only WorldBatik Conference was organized in 1997.

The Indonesian Batik Foundation in cooperation with the government willorganize the World Batik Summit which will consist of two main events, namelythe World Batik Exhibition (WBE) and the World Batik Conference (WBC) fromSeptember 28 to October 2, 2011.

The event themed "Indonesia Global Home of Batik" will be officiallyopened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Jakarta Convention Hall inJakarta