By REDintern Benedict Teo
Malaysia’s Muhammad Fauzi won the optimist category with 82 points. (Photo © REDintern Benedict Teo)
National Sailing Centre, Tuesday-Sunday, March 19-23, 2014 — 369 young sailors raced in the 2nd Fish & Co. Youth Sailing Championships. The event attracted four Finnish, five Thai, nine Korean, 15 Hong Kongers and 23 Malaysian sailors. The foreign sailors participated in all categories except the Optimist Silver fleet and Laser Standard, winning three out of nine categories in this regatta.
Korean Lee Nakyung (KOR 54687) raced in the 420 category and finished fifth. When asked about a comparison with the weather conditions between Singapore and Korea, she replied, “The winds in Korea are usually much stronger, and the waves are bigger. The strength of the current is roughly similar.” She added, “We came to this event because we wanted to spar with the Singaporean sailors, and also because it is affordable. When we go back to Korea, we will continue racing in Korean national regattas.”
Natasha Nabila bt. Sawal (MAS 76) from Malaysia raced in the Optimist Gold fleet and finished in 15th place. She said, “We participated in this regatta based on invitation (from Singapore). The weather conditions in Singapore are different from Malaysia’s, but it’s ok, I can still play around with the conditions. The sailors here are not as competitive and aggressive than in Malaysia,” she said.
The Malaysians outshone everyone in the Byte and Optimist categories. They clinched all three podium positions in the Byte category, and secured the gold and silver medals in the Optimist category. No mean feat, considering that the Malaysians are sailing in foreign waters while the Singaporeans are in home waters.
Andre Chew Jann (SIN 5496), who came in fourth and behind three Malaysians in the Byte category, mentioned, “I feel that it is good when foreign sailors attend our local events. We can gauge how good we are compared to the rest of the world, and we can learn from them and improve our skills to be better, so we can give them a better fight the next time.”
[…] 56 sailors from Malaysia, Thailand, Finland, Korea and Hong Kong raced in the regatta, providing a timely comparison for Singapore’s sailors. The Malaysians […]