Sunday, July 31, 2011 — Kimberly Lim Min won the Sailor of the Year award at the 2011 SingaporeSailing Awards night. A total of eight awards were given out on the night. Apart from the Sailor of the Year award, SingaporeSailing also gave out awards for Rookie of the Year, Club of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Official of the Year, Team of the Year, Club Coach of the Year and Most Improved Sailor of the Year.

Kimberly, who sails with the SAF Yacht Club (SAFYC), was ranked first overall in the Optimist Class in 2010. She won gold at the 2010 IODA Asian Championship, silver at the 2010 Asian Games and bronze at the 2010 Asian Sailing Championship.

She also finished 8th overall out of 231 sailors at the 2010 IODA World Sailing Championship.

The results are impressive because the Optimist class is a very competitive one and Kimberly has consistently produced good results.

The Rookie of the Year award was given to Audrey Yong Pei Lin, also of SAFYC. Having windsurfed for about two and a half years, Audrey is currently the top RS:X female windsurfer in Singapore. Her accomplishments are outstanding given her small physique.

Her most significant windsurfing achievement is winning the bronze medal at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. She also won the silver medal at the 2010 Civitavecchia Techno 293 Open Windsurfing Regatta, and finished 16th out of 61 at the 2010 Youth Windsurfing World Championship.

Elisa Yuki Yokoyama won the Most Improved sailor of the Year award. Yukie ranked third in the optimist class in 2010, compared to 18th in 2009.

In the 2010 Optimist World Championships, she achieved 23rd overall, and 4th girl, as compared to 2009 where she was 88th overall, and 11th girl.

At the 2010 Optimist Asian Championships, she was 4th overall, 2nd girl, as compared to 2009 where she was 10th overall, 3rd girl.

“When I was invited to the National Squad and went straight to the A squad at the end of 2008, I was the youngest and no doubt the smallest. Just weighing 28 kg among my 42kg peers made me doubtful when the wind picked up,” said Yukie.

“My coach, Fernie, always tried to assure me that size did not matter, but it was not that easy to believe without seeing it myself. I guess I was upset when I heard people say that they wished the wind picked up to 20 knots so that I would do badly. I did vigorous training on my core and leg muscles to prepare for hiking on days like those.

“During the Asian Games Trial 1 2010 held in Singapore, it blew consistently above 20 knots. And yes, my training did pay off when I finished a 3rd and a 2nd that day, winning the first trials. The shock on my opponents’ faces was priceless. I know that anything is possible if I believe that I can and I never let obstacles bring me down,” added Yukie.

Lynnette Leong from Marina at Keppel Bay was named Club Coach of the Year. Lynnette started sailing some eight years ago after her husband introduced the sport to her. She has since been hooked on sailing. The young graphic designer worked part time on weekends teaching beginners how to sail.

After completing the toughest leg of the Clipper race, Qingdao, China to Victoria, Canada, Lynnette was head hunted by Keppel to assist in the starting up of Keppel Bay Sailing Academy.

She has since coached no less than 150 students since the inception of KBSA. Her patience and excellent teaching skills brought her tremendous number of positive feedback from students.

Lynnette has recently passed the RYA Yachtmaster Instructor Examinations, making her the only female sailor with such a high recognition in Singapore.

The Team of the Year award went to Justin Liu and Sherman Cheng on the back of an outstanding 2010 for them. The duo won pole positions at the following major competitions:

2010 Asian Games (China)
2010 Ronstan Indian Ocean Classic (Australia)
2010 International 420 World Championship (Israel)
2010 Kieler Woche (Germany)
2010 Asian Sailing Championship (China)
2010 Australian 420 Championship

Richard Lai was named Official of the Year on the night for his hard work and dedication to delivering quality races to sailors. Richard has been actively involved as a Chief Race Officer, organizing local sailing regattas for the past six years. He is also involved in training volunteers and other budding officials.

The Volunteer of the Year award went to Mervyn Kwok. Mervyn has been actively involved as a volunteer for 10 years. His unwavering support for the Optimist sailors is seen through his frequent outings with them and words of encouragement. He often organizes gatherings and bonding sessions for the children out of his own accord. He has helped to build camaraderie and bonding amongst the sailors, making a significant impact on team dynamics.

His selflessness and commitment to the success of sailing events has seen him in the role of Chief Race Officer and helping out as a safety personnel on training days. He helped with the Myanmar Earthquake fundraising event, which raised about $20,000.

The Club of the Year award went to SMU Sailing Club, a student run club with the support of Singapore Management University. The club sees a high signup rate of new sailors every year, with an average yearly membership of 40 sailors.

Every year, experienced as well as new sailors are recruited and trained to race in keelboats. New sailors are given a chance to compete alongside their more experienced counterparts. Many have achieved podium finishes in international competitions within one year of picking up the sport.

The SMU sailing team competed in the Singapore Straits Regatta 2010, with podium wins in the J24 and IRC B Class. The club has participated in regional keelboat competitions such as the Top of the Gulf Regatta, Royal Langkawi Regatta, Koh Samui Regatta, and the FISU World University Games held in Greece.

The club also co-organizes the SMU-RM Western Circuit Regatta at Raffles Marina. In 2010, the event attracted 200 participants from around the region. They also organized a charity car-wash and dinner event to raise $20,000 for Sailability Singapore.