This year, all sailing enthusiasts' and visitors' attention will be on the latest stop of the prestigious 2009 World Match Tour or in Terengganu, Malaysia. The island is positioned well to challenge experienced sailors with its high-speed winds and torrential rain during its early monsoon season.

Terengganu is one of Malaysia's most-celebrated east coast states, well known for its exotic islands, pristine white beaches, crystal clear waters, quaint traditional villages and an unparalleled legacy of history and culture.

Pulau Duyong sits at the mouth of River Terengganu and is now accessible by boat or by road. The local riverboat charges a nominal fee of 50 cents or so. Villagers unload their produce to sell in the market. Bunches of bananas and baskets of chempedak fruit (a very pungent fruit but delicious!) are common produce. Others unload their bicycles for cruising around town or used as transportation to work nearby. Another way to get to Pulau Duyong is via the highway but many travellers prefer the old-fashioned way of travel by riverboat.

At Pulau Duyong, there are a number of small villages. Evenings are the best time to go as the young children come out to play on the banks. With their kites, they have their inter-village competitions. These kids fight for the reign, to be the 'king of kites'. There is a lot of strategy involved, sneaky tricks and all sorts of espionage going on.

One sneaky way of winning the game is by modifying their kites. The older boys would smash used light bulbs and grind them into fine glass powder. Then they dip the kite string into a glue paste and coat the string with the glass powder. Once up in the air and the string taut, these specially modified kites are used as instruments of destruction. As the kites come together, entwining each other in a tussle, the fine glass is sharp enough to cut through the opponent's kite string - the kite breaks off and floats away as the owner and his group of friends run off to catch the fallen star. The winner keeps the loser's kite and so on it goes.

At Pulau Duyong, traditional boat building is still thriving. Pakcik Haji Abdullah and his group of highly skilled craftsmen have been building these sturdy, seaworthy boats for the Marang fishing fleet for a long, long time now. And amazingly, the boats were built entirely from memory without the use of plans. Not only is he well known in Malaysia, Pakcik even has orders from foreign sailing enthusiasts who have heard about his skills within the international sailing community. However, he laments over how difficult it is now to build a good, sturdy boat and that is owed to the disappearing jungles of Terengganu. In the early days of his career, he could stroll into nearby jungles, pick the largest 'cengal' tree (a hardwood timber also known as ironwood) that is most suitable for building the hull; and cut it down without a second thought.

Now, much of the nearby primary jungle is gone and if there were any cengal trees left, it would be protected and after all, it's too heavy a price to pay for the timber. Yet he continues his work, meticulously putting finishing touches to the beautifully handcrafted vessels, ready to hand them over to the owner where each boat will continue the legacy of Haji Abdullah, Terengganu's finest boat builder.