Sentosa Oppie Open Champs, Singapore - day 3

by Sean Lee and Daniella Ng, SingaporeSailing on 11 Jun 2009 It is the third day of the regatta with no/light winds. Sailing sure is a sport which not only tests one’s physical strength, but is mentally challenging too! It is predicted to have winds of about 5-6 knots from 1300 hrs till about 1500 hrs in the afternoon. Hopefully, the race committee will be able to squeeze 2 to 3 races in that window period.

Finally after more than a day of waiting, some breeze filled the air as the AP flag on shore came down, signaling for the sailors to launch.

The horn went off and the first race started in decent breeze relative to the past few days. The start saw equal number of sailors heading towards both sides of the course. The sailors with better light wind techniques were seen leading the fleet in a close battle at the first mark.

As the race continued, rain clouds could be seen forming over Indonesia, across the sea, heading towards the race course and the wind started to die down. That made the conditions more difficult to sail in as the sailors in the last two starts had to battle the current with less wind.

We thought it would rain as storm clouds filled the sky and that there would not be any more wind, but we were blessed. 'Longevity winds' as the photographer calls it, the breeze that started to fill the sea managed to last past 6 pm and indeed the race committee managed to get six races going…

After three races in total, the scoreboard is as follows:
In the lead is Ahmad Latif Khan B Ali Sabri Khar (MAS) with 5 points.
Tied in points is Mohamad Faizal B Norisah.
In 3rd, 4th and 5th placing is Elisa Yukie Yokoyama (SIN), Kavas Alexander and Oikonomidis (GRE) with a total of 8, 9, 14 points respectively.

Noppakao of Thailand says that her ideal conditions for sailing would be 'medium winds of about 9-10 knots'. We fervently hope for such sailing conditions so that not only Noppakao will enjoy sailing here in Singapore, but all the other competitors, local and overseas alike!

However, the sailors have something to look forward to this evening. Sentosa, one of Singapore’s most famous tourist attractions and the title sponsor for the Sentosa Optimist Open Championship, has invited participants to visit the famous Merlion, where they can go all the way to the top to view Singapore’s spectacular skyline.

To those who did not do too well today, DON’T GIVE UP! With nine more races to go over two days, many things can happen! Just hang in and wait for the breeze.