:: 10th Singapore Straits Regatta ::
as you all know... i took 3 days leave last week, and did the 10th Singapore Straits Regatta! yes, yes... many of you will probably be wondering why i still do it even after what happened last year... but it's something i love, and i enjoyed myself immensely!
i'm a little lazy (okay, alot lazy) to summarise the whole race, so i'll just copy Sea Yean's summary of the event...
"The team and the boat performed beyond everyone's (including our own) expectations and we came in second position in Class B Racing. We had a great time sparring with Balancing Act while keeping Shoon Fung Too and the Platu off our back.
Race 1 is a passage race from Changi to Nongsa. We had a great start and managed to lead the fleet at the first turning mark. Balancing Act hoisted her asymmetrical spinnaker and managed to pull even and drew ahead. The broad reach across the channel made matters worst and she constantly drew away from us. We were comfortably ahead of the rest of the fleet when a close encounter with a VLCC caused us to come to a full stop and the rest of the fleet caught up. We were the second boat across the finish line but we were scored 6th on corrected time.
Races 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are windward / leeward races held in the choppy waters off the west of Nongsa Point Marina. The wind was great! We started well and adopted a conservative race strategy. Keeping an eye for the wind bends and current while applying a lose cover to the fleet, keeping our errors to a bear minimum, we managed to stay at the front of the fleet. Balancing Act however managed to finish ahead of us for races 2 and 3. We managed to get ours back for the next three races (crossing the line with a one second margin for race 5). We were scored 2nd for races 2 and 3 and 1st for races 4, 5 and 6.
Race 7 is a passage race from Nongsa back to Singapore. We had a bad start when we were caught below the lumbering Pilar and had to make a couple of extra tacks soon after the start to get away from the wind shadow cast by the fleet. We were finally able to pull ahead and away after we did a peel to change from our number 3 to our number 2 genny. We nearly threw away the race when the course stipulated by my GPS was suspect. Richard's GPS saved the day and we were able to sail the correct course to keep Eastern buoy to port. It was a close reach course towards Paku and Balancing Act kept creeping nearer. It turned into a beam reach course back to the club after Paku and Balancing Act with her asymmetrical spinnaker made a last minute dash for the line. It was another nail biting photo finish. We managed to hang onto our lead and crossed the finish line one second ahead of Balancing Act. We won the line honours and also the scored 1st on corrected time.
Race 8 is a passage race around Ubin. We had a decent start on the port biased start line. Was leading the fleet and was comfortably laying Nanas (B fleet's course) when we made the BIG boo boo of sailing the extra distance required of the A fleet. Maximum efforts were made to recover and we did finally managed to overtake the fleet (less Balancing Act which had since pulled away so very far ahead). We finally managed to be the second boat across the finish line but were scored 6th on corrected time.
We would have come in first if we had not made a BIG boo boo for the final race and threw the regatta away. We vowed to redeem ourselves next year (if we manage to survive the ridicule and pity). Many thanks to the crew for their gallant efforts."
It was great sailing with this crew... it never fails to amaze me how a group of near strangers can just come together and work as a team in such a short period of time. Granted, the rest of the crew may have had a few trainings before the regatta, and i had never sailed with almost half the crew before. Add in the fact that this is actually the first major regatta that we're racing Jenny 2 (in case you haven't noticed, Jenny 2 sis the boat we're racing) in, and you'll probably understand why we were pretty satisfied with our performance.
Cheers to all on board, from cockpit to bow, Sea Yean, Richard, Ming (Oily), Roy, Tileman (if he sounds familiar, that's coz i sailed with him 2 yrs back in the same regatta!!), Arthur, Hannes (my roomie), Lucas and Li Chin!
Race results can be found here...
as you all know... i took 3 days leave last week, and did the 10th Singapore Straits Regatta! yes, yes... many of you will probably be wondering why i still do it even after what happened last year... but it's something i love, and i enjoyed myself immensely!
i'm a little lazy (okay, alot lazy) to summarise the whole race, so i'll just copy Sea Yean's summary of the event...
"The team and the boat performed beyond everyone's (including our own) expectations and we came in second position in Class B Racing. We had a great time sparring with Balancing Act while keeping Shoon Fung Too and the Platu off our back.
Race 1 is a passage race from Changi to Nongsa. We had a great start and managed to lead the fleet at the first turning mark. Balancing Act hoisted her asymmetrical spinnaker and managed to pull even and drew ahead. The broad reach across the channel made matters worst and she constantly drew away from us. We were comfortably ahead of the rest of the fleet when a close encounter with a VLCC caused us to come to a full stop and the rest of the fleet caught up. We were the second boat across the finish line but we were scored 6th on corrected time.
Races 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are windward / leeward races held in the choppy waters off the west of Nongsa Point Marina. The wind was great! We started well and adopted a conservative race strategy. Keeping an eye for the wind bends and current while applying a lose cover to the fleet, keeping our errors to a bear minimum, we managed to stay at the front of the fleet. Balancing Act however managed to finish ahead of us for races 2 and 3. We managed to get ours back for the next three races (crossing the line with a one second margin for race 5). We were scored 2nd for races 2 and 3 and 1st for races 4, 5 and 6.
Race 7 is a passage race from Nongsa back to Singapore. We had a bad start when we were caught below the lumbering Pilar and had to make a couple of extra tacks soon after the start to get away from the wind shadow cast by the fleet. We were finally able to pull ahead and away after we did a peel to change from our number 3 to our number 2 genny. We nearly threw away the race when the course stipulated by my GPS was suspect. Richard's GPS saved the day and we were able to sail the correct course to keep Eastern buoy to port. It was a close reach course towards Paku and Balancing Act kept creeping nearer. It turned into a beam reach course back to the club after Paku and Balancing Act with her asymmetrical spinnaker made a last minute dash for the line. It was another nail biting photo finish. We managed to hang onto our lead and crossed the finish line one second ahead of Balancing Act. We won the line honours and also the scored 1st on corrected time.
Race 8 is a passage race around Ubin. We had a decent start on the port biased start line. Was leading the fleet and was comfortably laying Nanas (B fleet's course) when we made the BIG boo boo of sailing the extra distance required of the A fleet. Maximum efforts were made to recover and we did finally managed to overtake the fleet (less Balancing Act which had since pulled away so very far ahead). We finally managed to be the second boat across the finish line but were scored 6th on corrected time.
We would have come in first if we had not made a BIG boo boo for the final race and threw the regatta away. We vowed to redeem ourselves next year (if we manage to survive the ridicule and pity). Many thanks to the crew for their gallant efforts."
It was great sailing with this crew... it never fails to amaze me how a group of near strangers can just come together and work as a team in such a short period of time. Granted, the rest of the crew may have had a few trainings before the regatta, and i had never sailed with almost half the crew before. Add in the fact that this is actually the first major regatta that we're racing Jenny 2 (in case you haven't noticed, Jenny 2 sis the boat we're racing) in, and you'll probably understand why we were pretty satisfied with our performance.
Cheers to all on board, from cockpit to bow, Sea Yean, Richard, Ming (Oily), Roy, Tileman (if he sounds familiar, that's coz i sailed with him 2 yrs back in the same regatta!!), Arthur, Hannes (my roomie), Lucas and Li Chin!
Race results can be found here...
posted by Lynette at 4:36 am
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