Sunday Series III – Race 2
Prevailing wind conditions were a consistent 8 to 10 knots from a south-westerly direction, setting up for another exciting Sunday Series challenge for the sailors. It was a great turn-out yet again, with 18 Keelboats, 3 Multihulls and 6 Beach Catamarans gracing the start line. With the winds blowing from the south-west, sailors assumed they would be sent westwards and began their pre-start routine on the east side of the line. However, race organisers surprised them with a pennant 4 course, sending them to Tekong Buoy and back.
Cicak sailed a superb downwind leg from CAAS 2 to Tekong Buoy, keeping things close and competitive with Jaza Too. However, it was all downhill from there, as Jaza Too stretched their lead on the fleet in the subsequent legs, taking the lead rounding CAAS 2 in first place and claiming a deserving win for Race 2 in the Multihull Class. Equipment malfunction saw Cicak sailing towards Squance without a screecher, allowing Kaze to extend their lead over Cicak to eventually take second place over the line and on corrected time. Despite their woes on the course, Skipper Lauren Hill from Team Cicak was all smiles back on shore, as she celebrates her 18th birthday today. Happy Birthday Lauren!
In the Beach Catamaran Class, we witnessed 3 spectacular capsizes from Kaze Cat (Nacra 20), Bad Influence (Viper F16) and Balqis II (Taipan F16). A quick recovery from the Nacra 20 ensured that she did not let the rest of the fleet gain too much ground, holding a lead large enough to claim line honours and second place on handicap. The 2 Nacra 15s ended up on different ends of the standings, with CHN 116 solo-sailed by Uli Braun to a hard-earned victory and SGP 117 skippered by Bryan Ngu struggling to keep up with the fleet at the tail-end. Finishing in 3rd were weekend warriors Louis & Clare on their Taipan F16 (SIN 007), who made it on the podium despite having spent very little time on water this year.
It was a very close contest in the PY Keelboat Class, with the fleet keeping it tight throughout the course (Only 24 minutes separating the first and last boat!). Having only just missed podium in last week’s Twilight Race, the crew onboard Brio wore big grins at the results board, having realized that they clinched victory for Race 2 of the Sunday Series III. She edged out 2nd placed Ikaroa by only 16 seconds after corrected time, much to the dismay of the all pink crew onboard. On that note, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month! The crew of Ikaroa were all decked out in pink to show their support – and if you looked closely at some of the photos, you’ll see a pink bra hanging off her boom! Completing the podium in 3rd was the resilient Remington, making it 2 podium finishes over consecutive weekends.
Despite missing a mark and having to turn back to round it, Red Rum One sailed well to notch her first win for the series in the IRC Class – 1 minute and 14 seconds ahead of Jong Dee after handicap correction. The results were a lot closer between 3rd and 4th, as Born in Fire survived a broken spinnaker pole to sneak into 3rd just 23 seconds ahead of the chasing Waka Tere.
[13 Oct update – race organisers have made a mistake with the result tabulation for the IRC Class. after corrected time, Red Rum One finishes in second place, and first place is taken by Jong Dee. Results below have been updated. Apologies for the error]
Congratulations to all the winners, we hope the winds continue to be good to us this coming weekend, as we welcome everyone back for the 2nd race of the Twilight Series III.
Results
- Sunday Series III 2023 (Race 4) - 27th November 2023
- Cruise to Coney Island & MDR 2023 - 20th November 2023
- Twilight Series III 2023 (Race 3) - 19th November 2023
