That tall ruggedly-seaworthy craft you may have seen guarding marks at the BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta is known as a Makassar Schooner, one of a proud line of regional trading ships which used to ply the South China Sea during the wild and wooly days of the Spice Trade.

This one, Silolona, is only four years old but constructed in Borneo in traditional style by master builder Nasir, who hails from Makassar and is actually on board as crew and to tap in the odd nail here and there as they go. Makassar is the old Portuguese/ Dutch trading port on the west coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, now known as Ujung Pandan. And these stately old work boats are still quite evident in the waters east of Jakarta where they trade between the islands in rice, charcoal and other commodities. You can see whole ranks of them at old ports in Indonesia, Borneo and the southern Philippines.

Originally plying with heavy canvas fore and aft sails, most now have modern diesel engine power and the 49-metre Silolona is no slacker here with a 450 hp plant. Otherwise she’s pretty much what her great-great grandmother was back when Stamford Raffles was shooting 'tigers' in Singapore. Hailing from Bali, she is undertaking her maiden S.E.Asia cruise, showing at the 2004 King's Cup in Phuket, here, and from March 15 at the Singapore Boat Asia show.