423 sailors take to the water for annual schools sailing championships

Contributed by Ho Shu Fen

The annual National Inter-School Sailing Championship this year will see a total of 423 sailors representing 23 primary, 31 secondary schools and four junior colleges battling it out over four days off East Coast Park.

The Youth Olympic Squad (YOG) sailors are heading back on the battlefield with less than a week's break from the Asian Youth Games (AYG) nomination event.

Darren Choy, who won the AYG nomination event, and Muhammed Audi bin Aznan, both representing the Singapore Sports School, will meet their YOG squad mates in competition in the Byte event which includes Terence Choo (National Youth Champion), Nathan Tang, Chai Xun (all three from Raffles Institution) and Mark Wong (Anglo Chinese School Independent).

Raffles Girls' School seems to have a stranglehold on the girls' Byte B & C Divisions with YOG squad members, Najwa Jumali, Ariel Ruth Ho and Koh Ling Ying leading the charge.

Meanwhile, windsurfers who took part in the AYG windsurfing nomination event, Audrey Yong (Mayflower Secondary School), Jeddy Tan (Anglo Chinese School Independent), Derek Chan (St Joseph Institution) and Chuah Jun Leh (Juying Secondary School), are taking a hiatus from the boards. They will be also sailing the Byte representing their schools in the Byte B and C Divisions.

Victoria Junior College's (VJC) team is bolstered by multiple world champions and an Olympian contesting in the Laser Radial class. Elizabeth Yin (Byte and Laser 4.7 World Champion), Valerie Chia (Byte World Champion) and Deborah Ong (2008 Olympian, 470 women event) hope to retain VJC's title in the Laser Girls A Division category.

420 veteran sailor, Asian Games and SEA Games champion, Justin Liu from Raffles Institution Junior College is making the switch to the Laser Standard to try for a podium position in the Laser A Division category.

Up and coming Optimist sailors including Ryan Lo (Tao Nan School, National Youth Champion), Andrew Tang, Bryan Lee (both from Raffles Insitutition), Kimberly Lim (Tanjong Katong Girls' School) and Andrew Tan (St Joseph's Institution), are also taking this as an opportunity to hone their skills further before heading into the Sentosa Optimist Open Championship in June, the second nomination event for the Optimist World Championship.

Participation from schools, such as Anglo Chinese School (Junior & Independent), CHIJ Katong Convent, Mayflower Secondary School, Raffles Institution, St Hilda's Primary School, Tanjong Katong Girls' School and Tan Nao School, have kept a steady and growing pace.

"We currently have 42 members in our sailing squad now, in fact, this year, we have reached the maximum number of entries in the B boys and C girls Division," said Mayflower Secondary School teacher Narayanan Namasivayam.

This year, new schools with emerging sailors and sailing teams include a single entry in the Byte class from Jurongville Secondary School which students train at the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club's Sea Sports Academy and 14 entries (only three had prior sailing experience) from Yishun Junior College which started their sailing activities only a year ago at the National Service Resort and Country Club.

Beverly Low, who teaches at Yishun Junior College, used to participate in the Inter-school Sailing Championship. With the help of Naomi Tan (Singapore Schools Sports Council's advisor to sailing, canoeing and windsurfing), she saw an opportunity to introduce sailing to her students.

"We introduced the sport to the students by bringing them out on a boat on one-on-one basis to teach the basic fundamentals in sailing, we did it slowly so that the students will grow to like the sport. Sailing is a unique sport which challenges both the mind and body. Our students learn how to deal with elements out on the water which will help them in acquiring more life skills and character building. We hope to cultivate a love of the sport with the students and build a robust team for the championship in years to come."

The annual National Inter-School Sailing Championship is organised by the Singapore Schools Sports Council (SSSC). the Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council (SPSSC) and the Singapore Sailing Federation. The championship will last until 24 April.

The schedule of races is as follows:

21 April & 22 April, 1000h
Optimist - Senior Girls & C Girls 1
Optimist - Senior Boys & C Boys B 2
Byte - C Girls 1
Byte - C Boys C 2
Laser - A Boys 1
420 - A Boys

23 April & 24 April, 1000h
Optimist - Junior Girls 1
Optimist - Junior Boys B 2
Byte - B Girls 1
Byte - B Boys C 2
Laser - A Girls 1
420 - A Girls A 2