Contributed by Ho Shu Fen

Competitors from the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, UK, Japan, and Norway are in town for the SIM 29th Singapore Open Windsurfing Championships which starts on Friday, January 8th.

Gunning for gold are seasoned Olympic campaigner and multiple Asian Games and SEA Games medalists Oka Sulaksana from Indonesia, 2005 SEA Games Gold Medalist German Paz from the Philippines, and 2007 SEA Games Gold Medalist Phanuthat Ruamsap from Thailand.

Jannicke Stalstrom (Norway), double Olympian and Singapore's Youth Olympic Games coach, will probably leave the men in her wake and above all, train your eyes on our local youth sailors.

The event is one of the two nomination events for Singaporean sailors vying for the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games. Asian Youth Games Bronze medalist Audrey Yong, who came in fifth at last year's event, is hoping to better her performance and to do well in the nomination event.

The event is also being used by YOG windsurfers from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand to suss out the local conditions.

This year, the Windsurfing Association Singapore (WSA) is collaborating with a corporate organization, the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), for the first time on title sponsorship. The three year sponsorship is also SIM's first collaboration with a national sports association.

The SIM 29th Singapore Open Windsurfing Championships has also been named the nomination event for the RS:X & IMCO classes for the 2010 Asian Sailing Championships, the test event for 2010 Asian Games, in Shanwei, China.

Looking to qualify for the 2010 Asian Sailing Championships in March is 18-year-old Leonard Ong who came in third in the RS:X (Mens) Class at the recent Sail Melbourne 2009, the first event in the 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup series.

Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), SIM said, “We hope SIM's sponsorship of this national event is can make a difference in drawing more support for emerging sporting events. It is also a natural extension of our holistic education philosophy.

“At SIM, we believe CCA programmes, be it in arts or sports, help encourage our students to pursue their interests outside of the classroom so as to develop well-rounded characters. They also help form positive lifelong experiences and inculcate the habit of a balanced lifestyle that will serve them well later in their lives.”

Rachel Charis Ng, President of Singapore Windsurfing Association, said, “On behalf of the windsurfing community, I would like to extend our gratitude to SIM for supporting the Singapore Open Windsurfing Championships. We look forward to an event filled with exciting competition, fair winds and great fun.”

With attractive cash and product prizes, the event promises intense competition as windsurfers, both local and foreign, battle it out in the challenging North-East monsoon winds.

Event Details
Racing in six different classes begins tomorrow at 11.00am at the NSRCC at 10 Changi Coast Walk till Sunday, 10 January 2010.

Event website: http://www.singaporewindsurfing.org/sowc.html
Directions to NSRCC: http://www.esrcc.com.sg/contact/location.html