Battling against the odds... Singapore Straits Regatta 2009

by AsianYachting.com on 21 Jan 2009 Of paramount importance in any yacht race is to hit the starting line with speed and take advantage of every wind shift up the first beat. Most boats that do this have usually gone on to win or be in the top places at the end of the race. Playing catch up on the first half of the leg is not an option as it usually results in being classified as an also ran. The North Easterly tradewind eased a little overnight but returned to fifteen knots by start time and remained consistent in direction throughout the two races held today.

In the Racing Class Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi Fi has consistently won the starts and led around the top mark to go on and win the race. Today was no exception and together with near faultless crew work bagged another two wins, making it six wins out of six races and rap up the series with a day to spare. Playing the unfamiliar role of bridesmaid Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing scored another two second places to advance into second overall. Having missed the earlier regattas Bill Bremner/Andy Cocks TP52 Foxy Lady IV admit they are on a steep learning curve but still managed to pick up third place in Race 5 to hold onto third overall. A change in fortune for Sarab Jeet Singh's Sydney 40 Windsikher saw them squeeze into third place in Race 6 and just miss out on second place by 22 seconds.

Class B started out as a battle between the big and small boats but as the regatta wore on the small boats have come to the fore. Borstal Vladimir's J24 Angel seems to get the best out of his crew and keep the boat moving all the time in the sloppy conditions to score two more wins and take an almost unbeatable lead into the final race tomorrow. Second and third places for Renfred Tay's SMUve is the best of the Platu's and if they had avoided the early difficulties and disqualification could have been up with the leaders. The J24's seem to have a slight advantage against similar sized boats as displayed by Richard Ahl/Tim Tan's Juno taking third and second places today to move into second overall and make it a one-two for the J24's in front of the other speedy sportsboat designs. Kenn Eyears Nelson 10m Waka Tere is dropping down the order but still holds onto third overall by the slimmest of margins.

The PY Class continue to slug it out behind the racers. Leslie Fung's Hanse 315 Todak 2 has been the most consistent throughout the regatta and today's first and third places has elevated them to the top of the leaderboard with a seven point advantage to be almost unbeatable. Second place in Race 5 and winning Race 6 sees Hellmut Schutte's First 45 Aquavit 5 on the comeback trail after having mainsail problems in earlier races. Third place for John Ramsden/Sharon Fe's Elan 434 Sofa So Good and second place for Jerome Lau's Bravia 37 WYSIWYG II has evened up the scores. A battle is brewing for the minor podium places between Aquavit 5 and Sofa So Good as they are tied on points and Guz Wilkinson/Chris Furness Elan 410 Rikki Tikki Tavi trails them by one point after conducting running headsail repairs on the race course and ready to pounce on the final race.

The final race tomorrow is a passage race from Batam, Indonesia and returning to the Changi Sailing Club in Singapore.