Singapore Western Circuit Regatta - day 3

by AsianYachting.com on 24 Aug 2009 The ominous dark rain clouds building up over the Malaysian coast played a big part in the days proceedings. Right from the beginning it turned into a reaching startline for a point to point soldiers course up and down the Johor Straits. The favoured committee boat end became a crowded affair with many close calls of up, up and room to maneuver. The combined IRC A & B classes vying for the SMU Presidents Cup were quick to get away. The J24's turned into a cat and mouse chase with the West Australian's keeping a close cover on the Singaporean Champions and vice versa.

Only millimeters separated the Laser SB3s from the start boat. After the first round the inevitable happened and the clouds opened up with a heavy tropical downpour that completely engulfed the fleet. Eventually FOXY LADY IV's big red spinnaker appeared out of the rain storm to cross the finish line well in front of the pack. As the current changed direction and wind faded, the procession of boats that followed watched their handicap chances wash away with the out going tide. After a lengthy wait for the breeze to return PRO Richard Cai fired of the start for Race 5. A quick leg down with the current and a slow leg back were soon replaced by another storm front that picked up the pace to the shortened course finish line. Further attempts to have another race were abandoned as the breeze faded and the current increased.

Finishing in favourable conditions the Andy Cocks / Bill & Janis Bremner's TP52 Foxy Lady IV claimed Race 4 by a country mile. The smaller boats have a slight disadvantage of enduring the current for longer periods of time in the dying breeze. Brent Morgans' Beneteau 40.7 L'autre Femme has improved all regatta and eclipsed everyone by taking second place. After scoring podium places all regatta Sarab Jeet Singh's Sydney 40MOD Windsikher is the most consistent and third place keeps them in the running for the overall title. Race 5 saw another Foxy Lady IV whitewash and in doing so take home the SMU President's Cup this year. In a nick of time Jeff Davidson's Farr 30 Panic! snuck into second place to be tied on twelve points with Foxy Lady IV at the top of the leaderboard. Esben Poulsson's Esse 850 IMP made a return to the podium with third race in Race 5 but is well down in the pointscore.

Benjamin Mui's Cork 1720 Xtra SMUve have taken Line Honours in all the IRC B races and after a close battle with Gordon Maxted's Young 84 Shoon Fung Too they managed to break through and take the handicap honours in Race 4. The stronger breeze allowed Gordon Maxted's Shoon Fung Too to slot into second place and happy to finally beat the Platu's that have dominated the class so far. After posting three wins in a row Christopher Lim's Platu 25 SMUmad had to settle on third place but still sits on top of the overall leaderboard. The light breeze at the start of Race 5 saw the Platu's regain their domination with a one, two placing's for Christopher Lim's SMUmad and SMUve skippered by Fidelis Tan. Peter Forbes X-372 NEXT PAGE slotted into third place but Christopher Lim's SMUmad still holds the upper hand having scored four wins out of five races.

After yesterdays embarrassing finish line mistake David Ross' Swan 53 Frangipani Girl returned to make amends and triumphed in Race 4. Pushing hard all regatta John Ramsden's Elan Impression 434 Sofa So Good scored second place to take the overall lead by one point from Frangipani Girl. The waiting boat crews gave Blake Deberry's No Alibi a huge round of applause as they painfully struggled to cross the finish line and take third place in the dying breeze. Race 5 saw a complete change in the order with Dieter Trau's Watermelon coming to the fore in front of Leslie Fung's Todak 2 and Blake Deberry's No Alibi filling third spot but no change in the overall standings.

In the J24 class Vladimir Borstnar's Angel and Luc Tasker's West Aussie crew on Shengli have employed all sorts of tactics to get the better of each other. Pre-start match racing to cover every move and huge luffing duels up the windward leg to gain the slightest of advantages. At the end of the day they have traded first and second places in the two races held today, with Luc Tasker's Shengli holding a slender one point lead in the Overall stakes after winning the first race last weekend. Both Lee Sea Yean's Jangan Main Main and Richard Ahl / Tim Tan Juno scored third places and are tied on eleven points to share third overall but are well behind the dueling leaders.

Two wins for Michael Dafforn's Pocapena takes them to the top of Laser SB3 class. Wilfred Nagel on Dutchess and Wallace Cuthbertson's Glasgow Kiss traded second and third places to narrow in the overall pointscore with two points separating second to fourth places. Race one winner Fabrice Piard on Alidade expressed his irritation to the race committee after misinterpreting the course amendment after the pages turned into tattered paper mashie from the rain squall.

Frenchman Nicolas Gillier's Viper F16 ISDOO made it three wins in a row in the Off the Beach Catamaran class. German Uli Braun on the Taipan 4.9 SZ17079B and Stuart Perkins Nacra 17 SZ15332 have traded second and third places today with Uli Braun holding a one point advantage in the overall stakes by scoring second place in Race 1.

Fourteen Radio Controlled International One Metre Class sailors from Malaysia and Singapore have quietly gone about conducting two full days of racing in the secluded corner of Raffles Marina. Although the wins have been shared around the top toggle tweakers, after sixteen races Ervin Scully is leading the pack with 37 points. Despite two retirements for discards Colin Ng holds onto second place and Jerome Welsh is close behind in third place. Full results will appear on the WC 09 website after the gala dinner and prize presentation.

Racing continues next weekend with a full round of races scheduled (weather permitting) on Saturday 29th August to complete the Western Circuit for this year.