Regatta Lepa: Sabah succumbs to boat-fest fever

KUALA LUMPUR: Anyone planning to visit Sabah this weekend should consider coming to Semporna as this is where the sea faring Bajau community will be celebrating their legendary prowess at sea.

For three days beginning April 20, the sea gypsies of Sabah extend an invitation to the very cultural heart of the Bajau community and the Regatta Lepa XIV that showcases their unique wooden boats ‘Lepa’.

The Bajaus who live most of their lives out in the sea have inherited peerless skills in making intricate wooden boats.

Sabah’s Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah will officiate the regatta. Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Semporna Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal who is also the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs will be present at the event.

According to the Lepa Secretariat office, the regatta was inaugurated in 1994 to commemorate the Bajau tradition of building these splendid boats, the festival begins with the arrival of the Lepa from different villages, headed by the respective village leader.

Once true nomads of the seas, the Bajaus would only come ashore for water, firewood and bury their dead.

They live their lives on their elaborately carved Lepa, which in the Bajau language refers to a single-mast sailing boat. It can only be made using the Red Seraya wood (Shorea plagata).

The Lepa generally measures 25 feet in length and 6 feet wide. The Lepa’s design resembles a fish and the shape allows the boat to glide smoothly over the waves. It has been said that no Lepa has ever sunk, a testimony of its innovative design.

Nowadays, as most Bajaus live on land, Lepa is only taken out to sea on occasions and painted in striking colours with only the bow elaborately carved.

The art of making a Lepa is slowly fading as the men who use to make them now have ventured into eco-tourism industry.

Therefore, celebrations like the Regatta Lepa commemorate this heritage.

For more information on the event and contact details, log on to the official website of the Sabah Tourism Board.