Neil Pryde's Hi Fidelity wins 8th Singapore Straits regatta

by Asian Yachting on 21 Jan 2002 The Singapore Straits Regatta came to a conclusion today (Sunday) at the Changi Sailing Club on the North east coast of this seafaring nation. The Straits Regatta is the
premier sailing event in Singapore, part of a regional circuit and now in it’s 8th year. The third event on the Asian Yachting Circuit (AYC), the Singapore Straits Regatta this
year attracted an international fleet of yachts from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and of course Singapore. The event has travelled
from the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club to the Changi Sailing Club via Raffles Marina and the Riau Yacht Club. Day races of up to 40 nautical miles mixed with
windward/leeward courses in the Riau Islands of Indonesia make this a true test of sailing.

Yesterday’s race from the Riau Yacht Club to Changi was won by Neil Pryde on his Hong Kong Sydney 46 Hi Fidelity. This was their fourth victory in five races, with their worst
result being a second place to fellow Hong Kong yacht and defending champion Stella, a Sydney 38 skippered by Warwick Downes. This impressive display confirmed Hi Fidelity’s
status as overall champion before sailors got near the water this morning. All that remained on the day was to decide the other positions and of course the winners in the
other divisions.

Lying second this morning behind Hi Fidelity was Stella and in third Karakoa from the Philippines, skippered by Ray Ordoveza. Fourth was the leading Singaporean
challenger SINergy Team Singapore skippered by Paul Khor and fifth was Keith Moores Farr 40 Pla Loma.

The day’s race, the last in the Regatta, was the Brewerkz Race, a long windward/leeward race off Changi Sailing Club. With Hi Fidelity’s result secure they left the racing
to the rest of the fleet. Right from the start it was clear that there was much racing left in the Regatta and that this was important to all. If Karakoa could beat Stella then
they would move up into second place. At the start Karakoa got the best start and was closely followed by Pla Loma and Australian Maid. Stella was behind in fourth and
the race was on in earnest with a good 10 knots of breeze.

It was a great race to complete a successful regatta – and Stella was too good for Karakoa on this occasion winning the race with Karakoa second, SINergy Team
Singapore on their new Mumm 30 in third ahead of Pla Loma and Australian Maid.

This meant that overall in the elite Racing Class A Division, behind champions Hi Fidelity (6 points) were Stella (9 points) and in third Karakoa (12 points). In fourth was
SINergy Team Singapore (21 points) and in fifth Pla Loma (22 points). The winners took home trophies and specialist sailing equipment from Oregon Scientific.

Meanwhile in the Racing Class B Division it was KT2 skippered by David Low who took the overall title on 16 points just ahead of Shoon Fung Too skippered by Gordon
Maxted on 18 points and Jangan Main Main skippered by Lee Sea Yean also on 18 points.

In the cruising PY Class it was Cassandra skippered by Chirs Schuler ahead of Joan Marie skippered by Graham Lind and Dondang Sayang skippered by Udo Beyer.

Winning skipper Neil Pryde aboard Hi Fidelity said 'This has been a tremendous regatta. We’ve had some really good wind and enjoyable racing. The light winds early on
in the Regatta were testing, particularly that first race and there’s some shallow water around these parts that adds an extra element. We’re just pleased with the result
and we’ll move on now to the China Sea Race which will be very different. We’ve won in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore – but the Hong Kong race is all off-shore racing.
It’s going to be very different but we’ll see you in Manila at Easter'.

Paul Khor skipper on top Singaporean yacht and SINergy Team said 'We’ve had a great regatta and we can be extremely pleased with our result. Last year we won the
Racing Class B division and this was our first outing in the Racing Class A. It’s really tough out there with some great boats and crews – a real step up in all respects. But
we’ve held our own and our next step, apart from competing next year at this Regatta, will be to mount a challenge at some of the other regattas on the Asian Yachting
Circuit.'

For photos and full results, visit:

http://www.sailing.org.sg/straitsregatta/8ssr/straits_fotos.htm

http://www.sailing.org.sg/straitsregatta/8ssr/straits_results.htm

The Asian Yachting Circuit now takes a pause until Easter when the China Sea Race sets sail from Hong Kong’s majestic harbour for the long crossing to Manila in the
Philippines. Competitors depart on Friday 29th March for a journey expected to take three days. Then immediately followed by the last official event on the AYC 2001/02
the Philippine President Cup held over the 3rd to the 6th April.

The Singapore Straits Regatta is the third event on the four-stop Asian Yachting Circuit (AYC) that also visits Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. The end of the season, in
March 2002 will see a new Asian Champion. Each event on the AYC is televised for international broadcast to an audience in excess of 140 million homes on five
continents. CNN will also be featuring each AYC Regatta in their own show Inside Sailing which reaches another 167 million homes. For more info and viewing dates try
visiting the www.asianyachtingcircuit.com website or call Andrew Owen from Proteus Sports on +852 9472 1704

To go directly to the Asian Yachting Circuit 2001/02 Race Reports with colour photo's of the regattas already held click on:

Phuket Kings Cup: http://AsianYachting.com/news/PKCR2001.htm

Raja Muda Int Regatta: http://AsianYachting.com/news/RMIR2001.htm

Asean Regatta http://AsianYachting.com/AseanReg2001.htm

View the Notice of Race and further information on the Regatta's coming up got at:
Phang Nah Bay Regatta - 10 to 13 Feb http://www.bayregatta.com

Puerto Galera Yacht Club - Chinese New Year’s Regatta 13-15 Feb info@pgyc.net

RHKYC's China Sea Race 2002 - 28th March http://www.chinasearace.com

Philippine President Cup - 3rd to 6th April http://www.prescup.com

Inaugural Ko Samui Regatta April 21-27 contact Bill Gasson gasson@thai.com

AsianYachting is a yacht racing and sail training group that promotes regional sailing events and its boating activities globally at http://AsianYachting.com