By REDintern Benedict Teo
Nicholas Conor won the Laser Radial Category with 25 points. (Photo © Benedict Teo/Red Sports)
National Sailing Centre, Thursday-Sunday, June 5-8, 2014 — Five sailors from Australia and Netherlands challenged for the Singapore Laser Trophy in the Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 categories. They proved their class as four of the top five finishers in the Laser Radial category were foreigners.
On the first day of the event, sailors were greeted with strong breezes of around 10-15 knots. However, on the following days, the winds dropped and started to shift from place to place. Day to day, there were several storms which delayed the racing.
In the Laser 4.7 category, Bernie Chin took home the gold medal with 19 points. Matthew Scott Lau and Christopher Ang settled for the silver and bronze medals with 23 and 46 points respectively.
Mark Wong won the Laser Standard category convincingly with 10 points. He has finished first in all nine races and the final medal race in the regatta. Ahmad Daniel Umar and Chua Jiawei attained second and third place finishes with 28 and 34 points respectively.
It was a close fight in the Laser Radial category. Prior to the medal race, the top four sailors were only separated by nine points. Since the medal race carried double points and cannot be discarded, any of the top four sailors stood a chance to win the championship.
In the end, Nicholas Conor won the medal race and emerged on top with 25 points. Alistair Young and Ryan Lo finished second and third with 27 and 41 points respectively.
Conor, who hails from the Western Australia Institute of Sport (WAIS), said, “The wind was very inconsistent, so it was important to keep a clear head, keep calm and not get frustrated.”
When asked about his motivation to participate in this regatta, Alistair Young, who is also from WAIS, said, “I came to Singapore to experience the light-wind conditions, and also to spar with other sailors such as Benjamin Wempe.”
Benjamin Wempe, a sailor from the Netherlands, said, “I came here upon an invitation from Ryan Lo, and also for exposure to shifty light-wind conditions.”
Both Alistair and Benjamin will be sailing in major international regattas in July. They are participating in the ISAF Youth World Youth Worlds in Portugal. Alistair will sail in the Laser Radial Men’s World Championship, while Benjamin will sail in the Laser Radial Youth Championship, held jointly in Poland in July.
Leave A Comment