Singapore Schools Windsurfing Grand Prix – Fresh and Fun!

by Singapore Sailing on 25 Apr 2012 Schools windsurfing received a boost with the inaugural Schools Windsurfing Grand Prix held off the beaches of the National Sailing Centre on Friday, 20 April. Held against the backdrop of the final day and prize giving ceremony of the week-long National Schools Sailing Championships, the windsurfers strutted their stuff in front of hundreds of onlookers.

About the Event
Showcasing windsurfing and windsurfers in a fresh and fun racing format, the Grand Prix provided close racing action, right off the beach. Windsurfers raced on identical supplied equipment, in short but testing 15min slalom races, with the top 3 from each division* – C, B, A and Tertiary qualifying for the Grand Finals.

With loud music providing the adrenaline, live commentary adding to the livery, windsurfers and spectators were treated to a new ‘off-the-beach’ action on water.

Pumping to the Beat

With the crowd edging on the windsurfers, some exciting action ensued in the Grand Finals. With the F1 style start sequence with ‘traffic light’ signals – Red, Yellow, Green, each competitor launched off the startline in furious pumps, to gain every advantage coming into the first turning mark. The Grand Finals for C division kicked off with young Izzaz of Kent Ridge Secondary lining up against 2 female competitors – Sarah Surget from French School of Singapore and Cheyenne Chan from St Anthony’s Canossian Secondary. The girls’ experience saw them edging out clear victories.
The short ‘M’ course meant that windsurfers had to combine furious sprints with delicate ballet-like finesse to turn at each mark. The close racing saw some mishaps at the marks, where in the B division, a superb come from behind victory by Ynez Lim of St Anthony’s Canossian Secondary capitalizing on the mishaps by the two early leaders. Sneaking in by a nose right at the finish.

The A and Tertiary Division racing saw the older ones tussling for pole positions. Bigger, stronger and with years of racing under their belt, the action came fast and furious. With Olympic campaigners and former national team members, it was a demonstration of top class racing and an inspiration to the young ones.

Coming Together Under Vision 2030

The event was put together by Singapore Sailing Federation with partner affiliate club Constantwind SeaSports Centre, sponsor Performance Sails and volunteers young and old from the windsurfing community. The inaugural event attracted participants from all the windsurfing clubs, representing their schools.

This coming together by all sectors of windsurfing reflects the Vision2030 spirit shared by Singapore Sports Council.
SingaporeSailing is pleased with the buzz generated and the support received and will be rolling out more ‘windsurfing events with a difference’ in 2012 and 2013 with our affiliate clubs and partners.

Final Results
C Division (13 years old and under)
1st Cheyenne Chan St Anthony’s Canossian Secondary
2nd
3rd

B Division (14 to 16 years old)
1st Ynez Lim St Anthony’s Canossian Secondary
2nd Nicole Lim St Anthony’s Canossian Secondary
3rd Klinsmann Ang St Hilda’s Secondary

A Division (17 to 18 years old)
1st Chua Jun Ler Bedok View Secondary
2nd Donavan Tan Juying Secondary
3rd Nicholas Chng Ping Yi Secondary

Tertiary Division (Over 19 years old, Students of Tertiary Institutions)
1st Leonard Ong Singapore Polytechnic
2nd Melvin Huang Singapore Institute of Management
3rd Lesley Anne De Cruz Temasek Polytechnic