Sentosa Optimist Open Championship - Day 1

1:01 PM Tue 9 Jun 2009 GMT

'Sentosa Optimist Sailing Open Championship' Singapore Sailing Federation ?

This is the first year that the Sentosa Optimist Open Championship is so diverse with sailors coming from Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, Greece and Singapore!

With a total of 234 participants in the regatta, it definitely is going to be interesting to see how the sailors battle it out on water, given the unpredictable weather conditions that Singapore has.

This regatta is also the second and final selection trial that the Singaporean sailors will be going through in order to qualify for this year's IODA World Sailing Championship in Niteroi, Brazil. Leading the trials now is Ryan Lo, followed by Andrew Tang, Kimberly Lim, Andrew Tan and Ng Sue Shen respectively.

Some expected contenders from our overseas friends would include:

Noppakao Poonpat from Thailand - 2007 SEA Games Silver Medalist
Taylor Burn from New Zealand - 2009 New Zealand Nationals Champion
Naomi Mannering from New Zealand - 2009 New Zealand Nationals Female Champion
Douglas Campbell from Australia - Top ranked in Western Australia

With over 230 sailors running all about the National Sailing Centre, it sure makes the place much livelier. The beach is packed with optimist boats all eager to launch but the light winds did not allow that to happen. Anxious parents wait under the shade with binoculars placed in the best viewing spots, waiting to catch some action!

However, the spirits were still high where a wide variety of activities were carried out by the sailors ranging from sleeping, to playing chess and cards, socializing with their foreign counterparts, waiting patiently for the wind to come by.

Indeed, the wind came as prayed in the mid-afternoon and all that waiting was not in vain. The race committee managed to squeeze one short race in light winds of not more than five knots.

As predicted, Noppakao Poonpat (THA) started the regatta with a bullet! Coming in first in the other two fleets are Malaysian sailor, Mohamad Faizal B Norisah, and Singapore National sailor Elisa Yukie Yokoyama who won the second and third starts respectively.

Singapore's Kimberly Lim and Ryan Lo also performed well, finishing second and third respectively in their fleet.

Starting the regatta on a good note for some, the best sailors will battle it out with 11 more races to go over the next four days. We'll just have to wait and see. wishing them all the best, good winds and fair sailing!

Results: www.sailing.org.sg/events/regattas/09/sentosaopti/index.php