2016 DBS Marina Bay Cup - Day 1

by Panos Marinopoulos on 18 Sep 2016 The first day of racing on 16 September 2016 at the 2016 DBS Marina Bay Cup saw Team Philippines finish with a perfect record, winning all three of their matches that they sailed. The defending champions were dominant on the water, beating Team Sime Darby Foundation, the men’s Singapore Combined University team and Team Republic of Selangor Yacht Club-DNN.

“We won three flights today so the team is very happy and moral is high,” said Ridgely Balladares, skipper of Team Philippines. “The wind conditions were a little shifty but it proved to be a good challenge for the team.”

“The Singapore men’s team were the toughest team against us today. Even though we gave them a penalty, they were very close to us throughout our match.”

Rain early in the morning threatened to delay the start of the competition but the weather took a turn for the better as the sun came out in blazing glory and continued to shine throughout the day. A total of six flights were completed today despite shifty wind conditions.

The girls’ Singapore Combined University team also made quite an impact, winning two out of their three races against more experienced match racing opponents. They defeated Team Hanuman from Thailand, as well as Team MB Sailing. Despite dropping one against Team Alpha Racing from Australia, they will be hoping to continue their good vein of form.

“Performance wise, I am happy with how we did today despite the challenging wind conditions,” said skipper Koh Ling Ying. “We are aiming to do our best in the coming race and make sure our crew work is clean. We are preparing for the World University Games in Perth later this year and we want to tidy up what we can.”

The second day of racing will continue tomorrow from 10am onwards. The DBS Marina Bay Cup is an annual match racing competition using a fleet of SM40 held from 15th-18th September 2016 at the Marina Bay coinciding with the Formula One weekend. This year’s edition sees eight teams battling it out with competitors coming from around the region including Australia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.