Singapore National Youth Championships - Strong on day 2 + Video

by Singapore Sailing Federation on 21 Mar 2013 Day two of the National Youth Sailing Championships underway this morning with a light wind start –making it particularly challenging for the competitors. Another four races were sailed across all classes in 3-5 knots of wind, and the competition continued to intensify as the sailors embraced the tricky wind conditions.

The competition was extremely fierce among the sailors in the Optimist Gold Fleet, which comprised of sailors with varying racing experience. The light winds proved to be a challenge for the sailors – testing their tactical moves and boat handling skills -, as a result, it shuffled the fleet like a deck of cards and the top spots were dominated by different sailors throughout the races.

As the day progressed, the wind stubbornly refused to pick up, causing the fourth race to be abandoned. Currently dominating the Optimist Gold Fleet is still Edward Tan with 26 points, followed by Raynn Kwok, who scored two brilliant wins in races six and seven to climb up the leaderboard. In third, we have Fathin Rasyiqin, who dropped a position after suffering the brunt of the poor wind conditions – coming in 20th in two of the races.

In the Laser 4.7, Bernie Chin proved to be unbeatable – pocketing two wins out of the four races held to maintain a strong lead in the fleet with a mere 10 points – a whopping 18 points ahead of Conor Nicholas. Samantha Yom, on the other hand, enjoyed a smooth day of racing, coming in third after collecting one win in race five, and within the top 10 spots for the remaining three races.

Laser Radial Sailor, Ryan Lo continued to put up a consistent performance and concluded the second day of racing in the top of the fleet. Jevyn Ong, who just clinched the Champion’s title at the recent Mussanah Race Week managed to pick up momentum after suffering from jetlag, and adjusting to the severe temperature change, and did relatively well with two wins in races six and seven to slot himself in the second place on the leaderboard. Closing the gap behind in third place is Amos Lim with 35 points.

In the Windsurfing Bic Techno fleet, the competitors were forced to work extra hard, with light winds, they really had to rely on strength and fitness to get them round the course. After three physically and mentally challenging races, Nicholas Wee, who scored a first, a second and a third place for races five, six and seven respectively, came in first on the leaderboard with seven points.

Wallace Gan stepped up on his game and did well enough to move up the leaderboard from previously third to second overall after seven races. Ynez Lim, who is now third, with 20 points, will definitely be focusing hard to close up the gap and catch up in the remaining days to come.

The 420 Fleet, which held four races on day two, also witnessed some exciting action among the sailors. Currently, the leaderboard is dominated by three dynamic pair of female sailors – Kimberly Lim and Savannah Siew are still hogging onto the first place after eight races - proving themselves to be a force to be reckoned with – they took home three wins out of the four races held today. Elisa Yukie Yokoyama and Jazlene Ong are still ranked second overall with 12 points, while Jessica Goh and Rebecca Goh are 16 points behind in third place. With so many talented sailors in this fleet and only a few points separating the top three, spectators are advised to keep their eyes peeled for the next three days of racing are set to be filled with much anticipation and excitement.

The third day of the Fish & Co. National Youth Sailing Championships 2013 continues tomorrow, with the first race of the day expected to kick off at approximately 11am. With the competition being so close across all the fleets, spectators onshore are guaranteed a spectacle until the very end, with the final day of racing on Saturday, 23rd March.