Pasta Fresca Windsurfing C’ship and National Windsurfing C’ships What a fortnight of racing off the eastern beaches of Singapore!
We started off with the Pasta Fresca C’ships at the Pasta end of the beach. Saturday was a no show from the wind gods and only the raceboards and club boards managed to get 2 races going in the 5 knot breeze. A fairly large turnout, with a sizable Malaysian contingent from the Feng Yew School (JB), Leong Soon from Penang (with wife and baby in tow) and the usual suspects from JB, Kit and Kenny. The Singapore contingent from PA (Ker Wan, Rachel and Harold) were led over by uncles Richard and Dennis!
The Formula guys spent Saturday lazing about and catching up… and playing with baby Alicia! It was her 1st Birthday! Just 5 more years to go before she hops onto her daddy’s boards!
Sunday looked slightly more promising… and the wind did fill in by noon. The raceboards and club boards got started first while Kah Soon (race officer for the weekend) wisely kept the Formula fleet on hold for more wind to fill in. With the starting line only 20m from the beach and the upwind/ downwind course set in front of the club, the spectators were in for a treat!
Race 1 was a messy affair at the start. Some crashes here and there, myself included. Those who came off unscathed eased into the lead. Meng was leading comfortably at the first rounding, with Thye, Harold, Ker Wan close behind. I was playing catch up after getting tangled at the start, but with good speed, managed to overtake to 2nd by the downwind. But Meng was playing it safe and it crossed the finish to take the first bullet.
Race 2 was started in freshening winds of up to 12 knots, perfect for Formulas. Except that within the 15 min between races, I managed to get my fin whacked and cracked by a swinging mast on the beach (which was then quickly replaced by a borrowed one) and then break the extension just as I carried my equipment down to the water. So, started like 4min after everyone and have no clue as to what happened up front. Managed to catch up to 4th or 5th position but that was it. Not so much fun when you give everyone else a 1 leg headstart!
The winds picked up more, a steady 14 knots and Race 3 got going in a hurry. I finally managed a clean start without anything breaking and fully powered up on my 11.6m RS5, I had such good speed that I extended out to an easy lead and finished the race comfortably ahead. Meanwhile, there was a close battle for 2nd between Leong Soon, Meng and Thye Hock. Leong Soon had good height and passed Meng by the 2nd upwind. Locked in battle, they overstood the layline, allowing Thye Hock to catch up. Final downwind to the finish… Meng passed Leong Soon narrowly, only to have Thye Hock catch a shift and overtake them both! Last gybe to the finish and Thye Hock fumbles and slams, allowing Meng to slip through with Leong Soon right on his heels! Exciting stuff right in front of the beach.
And that was it, we called it a day as the planned slalom races did not materialize as we didn’t get more than 15 knots. So, the prizes are snowballed to the next round!
What we did have though, was Andrew, T.C. and Thye Hock giving the crowd a treat with their freestyle display. The 3 flipped and skipped to the hip hop beat blasting and in the end, it was Andrew who clinched the prize with his reverse rail rides on the IMCO.
And thus ended another event at Pasta, the first of the SW monsoon series.
Results:
Formula
1st Meng (SIN 0)
2nd Wearn Haw (SIN 2)
3rd Leong Soon (MAS 7)
4th Thye Hock (SIN 8)
5th Harold Ma (SIN 51)
Raceboard
1st Joshua
2nd Joel
3rd Adrian
Clubboard
1st Justin
And next up was the Windsurfing Nationals, put together and run by National Sailing Centre (or Andrew Foo himself for that matter!).
Saturday saw fantastic winds, first SW storm at 10am, lasting a good hour or so. Second blow came around noon and lasted 2 hrs. We were getting up to 20 knot gusts even! Things were looking good for the 2.30pm start… and I got out on my 9.8m… but as always, the wind gods threw us a curve ball and by 2.45pm, when the racing got underway, the wind had gradually died to less than 12 knots. We started, but the race was eventually abandoned as everyone grinded to a halt.
We waited around and a new breeze from the SW filled in and we soon got underway again in about 10 knots of wind. All was fine except that I could wish for more wind being on a 9.8m sail! The trip back to NSC crossed my mind, but that would have meant me missing 1 race. Stuck with it and pumped my way around the course to clock a 2nd. Meng was comfortable on his 10.5m and did well to take line honours. Thye Hock led the rest in with a 3rd. Everyone then went to the nearest beach at PA for a drink and a quick chat. Then it was back out again for race 2… except that race 2 never happened as the winds filtered away and it was abandoned.
Sunday. Any hopes of the previous day’s weather (20 knots at 11am!) was dispelled when everyone arrived at the beach. Calm and nothing brewing in the horizon. We even had time for a nap and lunch!
Things did happen though as the breeze slowly but surely trickled in by 1pm. Once it got above 8 knots, the Formulas were started. I had my trusty 11.6m RS5 and although quite a handful to pump, got the job done! First race was rather tricky as the wind was patchy at best and the lightweights milked the advantage. Thye Hock and emerging talent Nick (both in the feather weight division!) were brilliant and I was made to work hard to take the bullet.
We had one more abandoned start before the winds freshened from the southerly direction. A good 12 knots filled in and the Formulas were off. Leong Soon and Thye Hock had a clean start and headed off to the left with me just behind. The rest of the fleet tacked off early to the right looking for more breeze. But the left paid off and at the first rounding, it was a close affair with the top 3 rounding together. I passed Leong Soon and Thye Hock downwind and gybed clear towards the bottom mark. The others followed suit, except that I had underplayed slightly and had to pump hard to go deeper and save myself a gybe. That burst of arm-tugging made all the difference as the rest had to put in an extra gybe and I extended my lead comfortably to cruise home. Leong Soon was 2nd right up till the last upwind beat to finish where he got pipped by Thye Hock.
6pm and Chai (OD for the weekend) decided to run one more race, making full use of the wind. So, race 4 was started in a hurry and Meng, Leong Soon and myself got the jump on the pack. Downwind, I passed Leong Soon and Meng to round the bottom mark first, but as luck would have it, got a branch caught round my fin. Reversing several times to clear the stubborn branch saw me losing the lead to Meng and Leong Soon catching up. By the next upwind rounding, Meng was in first with Leong Soon and me chasing. Final downwind rounding and I seemed to have caught something again and surrendered 2nd place to Leong Soon.
With that last bullet, Meng had redeemed his 6 and 8 placings earlier and was tied on points with Thye Hock, claiming 2nd place on countback. I had good speed all weekend and made up for the previous week’s loss with win this time round. Leong Soon missed the podium by just one point… but may I remind everyone that at 50++ years old, he is giving us younger boys a run!
Formula
1st Wearn Haw (SIN 2)
2nd Meng (SIN 0)
3rd Thye Hock (SIN 8)
4th Leong Soon (MAS 7)
5th Nick (EK 9)
Raceboard
1st Joshua
2nd Joel
3rd Justin
full results:
http://www.sailing.org.sg/regattas/05natwindf/results2.shtml
