Published on : 1st Sept 2006 Article by: Sabrina Chew
Boat-lover Lee How Cheng		POWERCRUISING - LOVING IT Sharing a love for both sailing and powerboating, boat-lover Lee How Cheng decided to concentrate on powerboating two years ago, when he gave away his sailboat. Bosun's Call chats with him about powerboating, his penchant for Batam trips and more. Lee How Cheng decided to concentrate on powerboating...

You've had experience with both sailing and powerboating. How different are the two of them?

Sailing is more 'quiet'. You can just set up your sail and relax; it's a very peaceful activity, unless you're competing of course. On the other hand, you don't need much skill for powerboating, but for sailing you need some special skill.

Ultimately, why did you choose powerboating over sailing?

Sailing is a very time-consuming sport. Like many others out there, I'm also a weekend boater so I don't really have that amount of time to spare. To fully enjoy my weekend, it makes more sense if I can reach my destination faster and cut down on the travelling time. That said, it also depends on the individual. Some people are quite impatient - they just want to get there (their destination) as soon as possible.

Some people say that powerboating is less interesting than sailing, what do you think?

If you're coming from the skills involved, it's true in the sense that you don't need much skill to powerboat. It is unlike sailing, for which you need some basic skills to sail a boat. But when it comes to the enjoyment part, I think both are the same.

Powerboating is for those who…

…are weekend boaters. It depends on the usage. If you're a person who has a lot of free time and you don't want to spend a lot of money, then I think sailing is good. But at the same time, you must also be competent enough. Because in case you don't have enough crew, you must be able to sail by yourself. For powerboating, especially if you're just a weekend boater, you don't need any support. It allows you the freedom of choice to either go out by yourself or with friends.

What is one of the most memorable powerboating experiences you have had?

Personally, I like to explore different places. There was one trip where I went around Bintan Island for three days with a group of friends. We hopped from place to place around Bintan and we even visited a kelong just off Bintan. It was a commercial kelong which is unlike the ones in Singapore as it is not open to tourists. We went up and watched them raise their nets. After that, we even had our pick of seafood for dinner!