Signature Sundays 2018 – A Well Attended Battle

/in , /by

Felkin

The CSC Signature Sundays 2018 sailing festival commenced with a race to Felkin, one of three Passage Races unique to our sailing area. The race was well attended by sailors as they returned from the long holiday break in December. The fleet comprised of 12 Keelboats, five Cruising Multihulls and two Beach
Catamarans.

Light Start

Despite the initial light winds, participants made steady progress to Felkin on the incoming tide, but eventually a fresh north-easterly released them from the doldrums between Serangoon and West Punggol. An impressive solo performance by Kurt Metzger on Waka Tere earned her the bullet in the IRC Class, ahead of close rivals Born in Fire and Invictus in second and third respectively.

Taking both line honours and handicap victory, Minx was once again all smiles after a superb?performance which saw them keeping up with the IRC leaders for a good portion of the race. Ikaroa made it a close second after corrected time, ahead of new entrant Summer Breeze in third. MULTIHULLS IN FULL FORCE The Cruising Multihulls were out in nearly full force, as both M23s and three Corsairs made it an interesting tussle throughout the course. Despite a good comeback to finish with line honours, David Stanton?s Baloo just missed out on the podium and surrendered his win to Graham Horn?s Jaza Too, which lead for most of the race to earn them a well-deserved win, followed by Cicak and Eepai who clawed back to very close second and third place finishes. A match race between two single-handed beach catamaran sailors saw the slower boat returning triumphant! Nigel Signal?s Stray Katz was the fastest boat on the course, finishing in three hours and 38 minutes. Despite this feat, he could not put enough distance between him and Chris Waddington?s Persian Cat, who did well to utilise the shifting winds on the return leg, powering him through the channel and across the finish line.

Tekong

The Round Tekong Race achieved a milestone on January 14, 2018 when the winds delivered and brought some of the sailors around Pulau Tekong in record time! Nigel Signal?s Stray Katz smashed the previous record (3hrs 11mins 6 secs) held by Alan Hodges and his Nacra Carbon 20 in 2013. Stray Katz now holds the record fastest time to sail around Tekong, crossing the line in 2hrs, 24mins and 27 secs – making it the new time to beat for future challengers. What made it extra sweet was that the other beach catamaran competing, Chris Waddington?s Persian Cat – also finished ahead of Alan?s time, sailing single-handed on a Nacra 5.0 to complete the course in 3hrs, 4mins and 54 secs.

Mishap & Misses

In the IRC division, breakages and mishaps eventually forced hot favourites Invictus to retire, surrendering the win to defending champions Born in Fire. They look poised to retain their Signature Sunday Series Challenge Plate should they continue sailing well in the third and final instalment (Round Ubin). Waka Tere and Jong Dee finished in second and third respectively to complete the podium. A total of nine boats participated in the PY Class, with the 47ft Sun Odyssey Temptress of Down enjoying the superb breeze to claim line honours for their class. After handicap correction, they only just missed out on the podium, as Ikaroa, Southern Light and Minx finished in first, second and third respectively. Great to see the newly refurbished Southern Light back on water, looking forward to seeing more of her in action for the coming races! CROWDED AT THE TOP Damien Geoffray?s Kaze returned to racing on a positive note, winning in the Cruising Multihull division ahead of three other Corsairs and two M23s. Second place went to Michael Chia?s Eepai and Jaza Too claimed third after corrected time. With only one point separating the top three Cruising Multihulls (Jaza Too 4, Eepai 5, Cicak 6) after the Round Tekong Race, it definitely looked like a close contest for the finale.

Crowded at the Top

Damien Geoffray?s Kaze returned to racing on a positive note, winning in the Cruising Multihull division ahead of three other Corsairs and two M23s. Second place went to Michael Chia?s Eepai and Jaza Too claimed third after corrected time. With only one point separating the top three Cruising Multihulls (Jaza Too 4, Eepai 5, Cicak 6) after the Round Tekong Race, it definitely looked like a close contest for the finale!

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