Spore open 2011

From iTODAY:Windsurfing hoping to whip up a storm

Tan Yo-Hinn | Dec 17, 2010 6:00 AM

SINGAPORE - A slew of world-class windsurfing events are headed our way.

From next year until 2014, Singapore will host the Asian Windsurfing Championship and possibly a clutch of other top-class international meets, all part of an agreement reached last month with the International Windsurfing Association. Singapore will have the first right of refusal to stage world-class events, including the 2011 RS:X and Mistral One Design Asian Championships, the 2012 IFWC and IFCA Slalom Asian Championships and the 2013 Asian Raceboard and MOD Championships.

Windsurfing Association Singapore (WAS) president Timothy Khoo said the deal is a major coup for the sport here after years in decline.

"We had gone from adulthood back to infancy, so we're starting off again," Khoo, 26, told MediaCorp yesterday. "The move is in line with the Singapore Sports Council's policy of ensuring the event is not just a one-off but there are positive spin-offs."

Costing about $80,000 to organise, the 2011 Asian Windsurfing Championship will be held from Jan 12-16 at the NSRCC Seasports Centre in Tanah Merah, featuring over 150 participants from at least 12 countries.

Some of the biggest names are expected here, including France's 2010 RS:X youth world champion Thomas Goyard, Britain's 2008 Olympic bronze medallist (sailboard) Bryony Shaw and Hong Kong's two-time Asian Games gold medallist (mistral) Chan King Yin - although non-Asian competitors are ineligible to be crowned.

Stars like Shaw and Goyard will also conduct clinics from Jan 7- 9 before the Championship, and WAS, who are part of SingaporeSailing, plan to re-introduce the once hugely-popular sport here to schools.

"We hope (all this) will inspire more to take up windsurfing and put Singapore back on the world map," added Khoo, a former national windsurfer. Tan Yo-Hinn