Sailing: Kimberly Lim wins Optimist World crown; Singapore sweep all titles

New Zealand, January 1-9, 2012 — Singapore’s Optimist sailors left their mark in sailing history by winning all the world titles on offer at the just concluded 2011 Optimist World Championships held in Napier, New Zealand.

The team of Kimberly Lim, Ryan Lo, Elisa Yukie Yokoyama, Jillian Lee and Jessica Goh won the Team Racing title after a closely fought final with Peru to open the campaign. Team Racing involves 4-on-4 racing in a knockout format with each team involved in short and intense 15min race battles.

Said Chung Pei Ming, the head of High Performance: “I’m happy for our sailors as it shows that with hard work and determination, all is possible! The result is a natural outcome of their focus, training and preparation as well as the support from their family, the coaches, clubs and wider sailing community support. This batch of sailors will no doubt inspire future generations of Optikids!”

When the individual series resumed, Kimberly steadily improved through the individual standings to emerge on top of the leaderboard going into the last day of racing with a slim four-point margin over Bart Lambriex from the Netherlands. With no racing on the final day due to the light wind conditions, Kimberly wrapped up the world title.

In winning the overall title, she also bagged the individual Girl’s world title. Kimberly, 15, now has three world titles to go with the Asian title she won in July 2011.

As a team, the Singaporeans also swept the Miami Herald Trophy (or Nations Cup). The Trophy is awarded to the top performing team in the individual standings, tabulating the cumulative point scores of each nation’s top four sailors.

“[This is] a fantastic result that will bring smiles to the many people involved in developing Optimist sailing tirelessly in Singapore over the past 30 years!” said Tan Wearn Haw, the chief executive of the Singapore Sailing Federation(SSF).

“I’m glad to see our young team deliver a breakthrough result on the world stage,” said Dr Benedict Tan,the president of SSF. “A remarkable outcome thanks to the hard work of the many coaches involved in teaching them the skills and values since the day they started sailing.

“The talent emerging consistently from our junior progammes will augur well for SingaporeSailing’s push towards 2016 and 2020 Olympics, and beyond. Many of our young sailors will continue to meet and compete against their contemporaries as they progress through their Olympic campaigns, and we are sure that with hard work, perseverance and an unwavering hunger, our young sailors will continue to shine on the world stage!” added Dr Tan.

Overview of final results
Kimberly Lim — World Champion and Girl’s World Champion
Ryan Lo — 4th overall
Elisa Yukie Yokoyama  — 4th (Girls), 23rd overall
Jillian Lee — 6th (Girls), 38th overall
Jessica Goh — 8th (Girls), 52nd overall
(out of 210 competitors)

World Team Racing Title — Singapore

Miami Herald Trophy (Nations Cup) — Singapore