Singapore finish third and fourth in inaugural Optimist Team Racing Championship

Contributed by Darrelle Eng and Daniella Ng.

National Sailing Centre, 14-15 June, 2009 – The Sentosa Open Championship ended on Saturday but teams from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore stayed on to take part in the inaugural Optimist Team Racing Championship. Malaysia emerged as the champions whereas Thailand took second place. Singapore’s Team 1 and Team 2 were third and fourth respectively.

The regatta consisted of round robin races, and the finals seeing each team racing against another with a "best out of five races" format. The winners of each pair would then sail against one another for the top two placing.

Storm clouds brought good winds on the first day and the race committee managed to do 52 races in total to pick out the top four qualifiers for the last round of competition. Thailand and Malaysia topped the scoreboard and made it to the final, leaving the two Singapore teams to fight for third and fourth placing.

It was an exciting finals, with the best teams coming together to beat one another with team using different racing tactics and rules. It was a race which required physical fitness to hike out for the sailors to their boats flat and moving with speed.

The final saw the Malaysians doing better in stronger wind conditions compared to the Thais, but that did not make the latter lose hope, as they fought each race with a hunger to win.

This year, Malaysia sent a strong team of young sailors all aged 13, and they were light and fast, with their determination to win keeping them going.

After a strong battle, the Malaysians emerged as champions. Coming in second was Thailand, followed by Singapore Team 1 and Singapore Team 2. The Malaysian team had a great performance, winning not only the team racing trophy but also three out of top ten positions in last week's fleet racing.

We wish the sailors "ALL THE BEST!" at the upcoming IODA World Championships in Brazil.