Thai sailors dominate Optimist and Byte championships

by Peter Cummins, Bangkok Post on 8 Feb 2009 Thailand’s boys and girls took out the top placings with brilliant sailing and strong finishes on the last day of the ASEAN Optimist and the Byte CII Asia-Pacific Championships.

In the two regattas raced concurrently off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in South Pattaya this week, their world-class performances have placed Thailand in the top echelons of junior yacht racing world-wide and bodes well for the future of the sport in the Kingdom, the region and the world at large.

In fact, it was a Thai whitewash of the total event, with Thai team No 1 also winning the team racing competition with a perfect zero score.

It was the daunting Thai sub-teen girls, Noppakao Poonpat and Jittiwa Thanawitwilat, first and third, respectively, in the ASEAN Optimist regatta, with exactly the same pattern in the Byte Division, except it was Thai boys this time.

Byte World champion, Keerati Bualong and Natthawut Paenyaem were first and third respectively.

Taking the Opti class first, Malaysia's Ahmad Syukri Abdul Aziz was second, with first Singaporean (and girl) Kimberly Lim, in sixth place, Eri Fukasawa, Japan's first, in 12th place, Burma's first sailor, Thiri Ye Win, in 22nd place and little Sri Lankan lady Dani-Elle Svendson, first for her country, in 42nd place overall.

In the Byte CII, Singapore’s Terence Choo, after a valiant tussle with the Thai boys, finished second, with a cluster of Singaporeans, filling fourth to seventh places.

Indonesia's finest, Boby M H Sanjaya was 22nd overall and Burma No 1, (and first lady) Khin Nyo Lynn, was 24th.

It was so refreshing to see all these young people, their managers and their supporters, smiling, competing and enjoying life, after the gloom and doom surrounding the big world outside.

Royal Varuna Yacht Club Commodore Kevin Whitcraft presided over the most impressive closing ceremony in the glow of a glorious Pattaya sunset.

'The Royal Thai Navy, the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand and our own Royal Varuna Yacht Club, of which His Majesty the King is our Royal Patron, have been delighted to welcome 53 young people from six regional countries, to join our own 33-strong Thai team, in a week of superb sailing, fun and camaraderie, this week,' said Whitcraft.

'I know that the teams from Burma, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka have enjoyed our own people, our hospitality and our culture,' he added.

Thus, the curtain rang down on a superb week of sailing, fun and god-fellowship among Asia's neighbours and Thailand goes up a notch on all counts.

Full story:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/11255/thai-sailors-show-a-great-future-lies-ahead-after-royal-varuna-success