Welcome back to the National Sailing Centre in Singapore and Day 3 of the Fish & Co. Youth Sailing Championships. After two days on the water all the sailors are tuned in now to the tricky conditions as they prepare their boats for another schedule of exciting racing. Over the past few years, Singapore has grown as a sailing centre of excellence, and at this regatta alone there are five past Optimist World Champions taking part, now in different classes. So the precedent of winning world titles has already been set and we might find the 2015 world champion among the Optimist youngsters here.
Fernando Allegre, widely known to the sailing world as 'Happy', is the mastermind of this amazing record of consecutive world titles in the Optimist class, and he sums up the qualities sailors need as hard work, discipline and self-motivation.
With the fantastic energy of their coach behind them, some of the young Optimist sailors destined for the podium at this regatta are Lu Junrui, Jodie Lai and James Koh, who are all sailing well on Course B.
On course A in the 420 class we can also find the signs of Singapore’s recent sailing success. Kimberly Lim, Optimist World Champion in 2011, Yukie Yokoyama, Optimist World Champion in 2012, and Loh Jia Yi, Optimist World Champion in 2013, all show incredible promise for the future, and who knows, maybe even Olympic success. But moving from one class to another is never easy.
After eight races Kimberly Lim and Savannah Siew, who won silver at the 420 Worlds in 2013, are the overall 420 leaders so far, but their teammates are putting on the pressure not far behind.
Another two Optimist world champions from 2013 are among the participants, Bertha Han is trying her skills in the Laser 4.7 class, and Edward Tan is now in the sporty Byte class.
A storm rolled over Singapore, which forced all the sailors back in to close day three. Points are tight at the top and the final two days will be hard fought.
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