CSC Optimist Championships 2019 (Silver Fleet) Day 1

With a fresh NE breeze arriving early to greet the participants, Changi Sailing Club?s Optimist Silver Fleet Championships on Day 1 posed a great challenge for many of the sailors. The annual event saw a total of 76 youth sailors from across the island taking part, positioned strategically in the middle of the year-end school holidays.

Throughout the day, Sailors had to deal with strong gusty winds ranging from 12 to 16 knots. The conditions proved too
much for some to handle, forcing them to retire and recover from the races. Many did not give up, but also succumbed to the overwhelming winds and waves, thus not being able to meet the time limit to finish.

Despite the sailors being almost exhausted, the race committee decided to run a fourth race – a decision which truly tested the physical and mental endurance of these young participants.

After 4 races, the overall leading boat is currently Jayden Khor from SAFYC, who scored a bullet in race 1 and 3 top 10 finishes to sit on top with a comfortable 5 point lead ahead of second placed Xuan Yu, followed by Ryan Goh with just one point behind. Sailors from 4th place onward all scored erratically, and will be looking forward to activating a discard in the remaining days.

Our CSC Youth Charges showed no fear against the challenging conditions, even for the first-time racer Heng Yi! His never-say-die attitude was commendable, and we hope that he will continue to improve over the remaining races. The top 3 performers for CSC were Cheryl, Ikuto and Christine in 10th, 11th and 13th respectively. All 3 sailors placed in the top 10 for at least 1 of the 4 races, with Cheryl Yong scoring a bullet in Race 4! They have a good chance of breaking into the top 5 should they continue to sail well over the next 2 days.

Please see the link below for the results – Good luck to all sailors for the 2nd day of racing tomorrow!

2019 Optimist Silver Day 1