Michel Lippitsch
Teluk Bakau, Bintan · Jong School founded 2012

Traditional Sailing Club

Reviving traditional sailing on the east coast of Bintan — the sampan layar Moana, the jongs, and the school built up around them.

Traditional Sailing Club

Michel sailing a traditional outrigger off Bintan
Under sail, off the east coast of Bintan

In the hope of reviving the art of traditional sailing on Bintan's east coast, the club is built around Moana, a sampan layar that is itself a small piece of maritime history — a hybrid of the traditional Malay kolek hull and a Polynesian-style outrigger, bridging two boatbuilding traditions from opposite sides of the Pacific. Traditional sailing here also means the jong, the hand-carved miniature racing boats at the heart of the wider Jong World community founded with Zakir in Teluk Bakau back in 2012. Smaller sampans have come and gone over the years — most didn't survive the water and the seasons, and a handful of photographs are what remain to bear witness to that earlier fleet.

Elsewhere on the coast, a similar revival is underway: Naga Langit, a 7-meter racing sampan layar, is being crewed by a team from Berakit to demonstrate the skills and compete regionally.

Children and adults alike are welcome to learn the craft in a laid-back, unhurried atmosphere — food and drinks available on request during the week, and on-site on weekends. Looking ahead, one hope is to bring a small sampan back into the fleet, perhaps a traditional canoe. For now, the stars of the club remain the sampan Moana and the jongs.

Michel sailing a traditional outrigger off Bintan
Traditional Sailing Club
Traditional Sailing Club
Traditional Sailing Club
Moana Sampan
Moana Sampan
Moana Sampan
Moana Sampan
Traditional Sailing Club Full Sailing Club Gallery
34 photographs — Moana Sampan, sampan layar and some of the jongs — view full gallery →

The full Jong School site

Race galleries back to 2013, youth programs, the craft of building a jong — the complete Jong School Zakirudin site lives on its own.

Visit jongschool.com ↗

The Jong School

Founded 2012 by Michel Lippitsch with Zakir, in Teluk Bakau, near Tanjung Pinang and Gunung Kijang. Two seasonal races drive the calendar — Utara (northeast monsoon) and Selatan (southwest) — now drawing dozens of groups from Bintan, Batam and Pulau Penyengat, up from a handful of villages at the start.

"Thank you to everyone who sailed, danced, cooked, judged, and showed up — this only exists because so many people choose, quietly, to make it happen." — from the 2026 race writeup. That year: 23 groups, Penyengat sweeping all three prizes, dangkung dance alongside the Taktido art collective and an evening of Malay music and DJ sets.

Though Zakir has since passed away, "his influence persists in every boat constructed and every student trained in traditional hull-carving methods."

Jong School kids program
Jong School kids program
Jong School build session
Michel sketching out the vision for the Jong School
Sketching out the vision