By Benedict Teo
Jessica Goh and Rebecca Goh won the 420 category by a margin of six points at the Pesta Sukan Regatta. (Photo 1 © Victor Lim/Red Sports)
National Sailing Centre, Saturday-Sunday, August 3-4, 2013 – The pair of Jessica Goh and Rebecca Goh won all seven races and bagged the 420 category title by a margin of six points at the Pesta Sukan Regatta. Zandra Chew Yann and Fathin Rasyiqah binte Mohd Firdaus came in second with 12 points.
Reflecting on their win, the Rafflesian pair mentioned the impact of overseas sailing trips to France on their consistent performance in this regatta. The trips enabled them to focus wholly on training and helped to improve their technique and teamwork, which are crucial elements of 420 racing. They also humbly acknowledged the absence of other sailors who recently went overseas as a factor in their victory.
The Pesta Sukan regatta consisted of seven races – except for 10 races for the Access2.3 category – over two days for nine categories: the Optimist gold fleet, Optimist silver fleet, Byte, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, Laser Standard, 420, 470 and Access2.3.
A light 6-8 knot breeze blew for the races held on the first day. The second day of racing started with a Category 1 storm and races were delayed, but the skies cleared quickly and the races underwent with heavy winds which reached a peak of 18 knots during race 5.
Edward Tan Yi Zhu came out top in the Optimist gold fleet with 31 points, followed by Mohd Faris bin Mohd Firdaus with 37 points, and Isaac Tang Wei Ren with 38 points.
In the Optimist silver fleet, Radiance Koh impressively emerged as the champion with 13 points, considering that he also won the ‘under 10 years old’ category. Dominique Koo Yi Xian and Evan Seet Eu-An tailed him with 28 and 30 points respectively.
Andre Chew Jann, who won the Byte open category with nine points, said the wind conditions were to his liking, and his boat speed gave him and edge over the rest of his competitors. Raphael Ng Kai Xuan finished in second place with 13 points, and Chin Zong Han finished third with 25 points.
In the Laser 4.7 category, Bernie Chin Cheok Khoon topped the table with nine points. His racing secret is to remain focused during races and also to never give up no matter how dire the situation. Matthew Scott Lau Wen Jiang and Samantha Yom Jing Yi also performed well to claim second and third placing with 19 and 26 points respectively.
The top two sailors of the Laser Radial category, Malone Pun Chao Jie and Ryan Lo, tied with 16 points. Having also tied with the number of first place finishes, Pun won the championship title because he garnered more second-place finishes than Lo. Victoria Chan Jing Hua came in third with 19 points. Pun acknowledged the strength and quality of the fleet and was relieved to finish in first place.
Anthony Kiong Lye Ming dominated the Laser Standard category with six points after he had six first-place finishes and one discard. Akiyoshi Komiya took the silver with 11 points, and Bertram Tan Wen Long settled for the bronze with 17 points.
The pair of Dawn Liu Xiaodan and Joan Poh Xue Hua narrowly won the 470 category with 10 points. They were closely trailed by Roy Tay Junhao and Chung Pei Ming with 12 points while Denise Lim Kexin and Justin Liu Xiaman had 13.
Jovin Tan Wei Qiang finished with 16 points and clinched the gold medal position for the Access2.3 category. Yap Qian Yin garnered 19 points and brought home the silver medal, while Desiree Lim Kok Liang secured the bronze with 22.
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