February 2021 | Changi Sailing Club

CSC Laser & 29er Open 2021 (Day 1)

28th February 2021/in Competitive Racing, Regattas, Sailing/by CSC

The 1st edition of the CSC Laser & 29er Open was held in amazing North-Easterly breeze, and many of the returning sailors were expecting similar conditions this year. With the winds over the past 2 weekends blowing up to 20 knots, it felt like a sure thing in the lead up to this regatta. Alas, light winds and strong currents greeted the fleet on Day 1, setting the stage for a very different kind of racing. Joining us this weekend are a diverse range of Olympians, National and Club sailors from around the island who made up the 69-strong fleet, a significant increase of 15 boats from last year.

At the end of 4 races, we see clear leaders in all classes going into Day 2. In the 29er class, Marvin Tan / Dylan Ng (SGP 2446) had a good day out, scoring 3 bullets and a 2nd to top the fleet of 5 with 5 points. A Starboard-Port incident between SGP 2446 and SGP 2869 on water saw 2nd placed Dylan Fang / Russel Yom (SGP 2869) take the case to the protest room, only for it to be eventually dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

A clean sweep of 4 bullets from defending champion Jonathan Lio (SGP 203819) in the Laser Radial class meant that it is his championship to lose, as the leaders of the chasing pack Darius Lee (SGP 197833) & Zachary Khoo (SGP 214242) trail a significant 11 points behind. The Laser 4.7s see a similar result, as Poh Yong Ler (SGP 02) scores 3 wins out of 4 races, with his only blemish being a 9th in race 4. The 2nd and 3rd placed sailors also have poor races to drop, thus making it an uphill task today to catch up with Yong Ler should he continue with his stellar performance from Day 1.

In the Laser Standard Class the mood was less intense, a situation which could have been partly attributed to the average age of the 10-strong fleet? Emerging after 4 races is a rare sight at the top of the table as Chung Pei Ming (2) leads a fleet of sailors which includes Olympians, ex-national sailors and the defending champion. A consistent showing and a cautious effort on the start line rewarded him with a 1 point lead over 2020’s winner, Elliot Drake (9595). However, we might see a reshuffling of positions when the discard is applied after 5 races, as waiting in 3rd and 4th are Olympians Colin Cheng (CHENG) and Koh Seng Leong (KOH), who both sailed brilliant races but were let down by an OCS in race 3.

We look forward to more exciting racing today, as we plan for 3 more races in hopefully a steady and stronger NE breeze.

Results

CSC East Johor Straits Race 2021

22nd February 2021/in Competitive Racing, Regattas, Sailing/by CSC

We are about halfway through our CSC Sailing Festival calendar of events, and boy are we loving the North East Monsoon winds! While the Beach Catamarans were racing around the cans over the weekend, our Keelboats & Multihull were treated to a 35Nm passage along the East Johor Straits. The 4th edition of the East Johor Straits Race was held in near-perfect conditions, as tides were slow and winds were strong and consistent from the North-East. This allowed for the Race Organisers to finally fly the pennant 1 course (4th time’s a charm), which takes sailors to Frontier Beacon, back across the Club line towards Lavis Buoy and return to the Club for the Finish.

The IRC Class welcomes Minx to the family, as Skipper Lucas obtained his IRC Certificate earlier in the month. Joining her for the race was defending champion Waka Tere as well as the 40ft cruiser-racer Red Rum. A cautious but beneficial decision to reef the main before the start could have been a big reason why Minx scored a very good start off the line, keeping pace with Red Rum for the first leg towards changi buoy. As the race developed, Red Rum stretched her lead on the fleet, 10 minutes ahead of Waka Tere on the return leg from Frontier heading towards Lavis Buoy. Across the line, she had doubled the time difference, but was still not enough overcome the defending champions on corrected time. This meant that Waka Tere has made it 4 wins out of 4 editions, a superb performance from the Nelson 10. Minx was a close 3rd, just a few minutes away from Red Rum on handicap. Her performance bodes well for the upcoming events in the Commodore’s Cup and SailFest Regatta, where winds (forecasted to be lighter) and courses (more windward-leewards) are typically more favourable for the X342.

A healthy fleet of 12 boats graced the start line for the PY Keelboat Class. We see very strong competition in attendance: the return of defending champion Ikaroa, 2018 winner New Blue Eyes, ex-IRC boat Invictus as well as Two-Island record holder Sangaree – just to name a few. Invictus and Sangaree took an early lead after the start, setting the pace for the rest of the pack. An early spinnaker hoist and some excellent boat speed from Invictus on the downwind approach to the Club line could not stop the raging Sangaree from eventually overtaking her and claiming line honours for the PY Class. The big surprise came from the chasing contingent, as Shardana led the hungry contingent just 18 minutes behind Invictus across the line – a small margin considering the length of the race. It was also great to see that all boats finished before 5pm, an awesome result made possible by the unrelenting winds. When the numbers were crunched, Olmeto emerged the 2021 winners in the PY Keelboat Class, beating New Blue Eyes in 2nd and Sangaree in 3rd. 2020 winner Ikaroa was left just out of a podium place by a mere 4 seconds after corrected time – an incredible effort and result despite the stiff competition.

Despite being the only Multihull on water, Jaza Too spared no effort to get the best boat speed on the course, claiming line honours ahead of all the boats in a staggering record time of 4hrs 11mins 33secs. A tough act to follow for contenders in subsequent editions. Congratulations to all the winners, we hope everyone enjoyed the race.

We’ve got a weekend break before we return to host the CSC Commodore’s Cup (6-7 March), the most prestigious event in our CSC Sailing Festival Calendar. See you then!

Results

EJSR IRC 2021

EJSR PY 2021

EJSR MH 2021

CSC Catamaran Championship 2021 (Day 2)

22nd February 2021/in Competitive Racing, Regattas, Sailing/by CSC

Day 2 of the CSC Catamaran Championship did not disappoint, with some close racing and near clashes taking place over the course of the afternoon.

The Nacra 5.8 ramped up to fifth gear in races 4 to 6, notching some incredible boat speed to put serious heat on leaders Madfish II. Laojiao Catamaran Sailors Scott McCook and Alice Lim made the Nacra 5.8 sing, scoring 2 bullets in race 5 and 6 to complete the regatta with a lean 8 points in the Open Division. Her score was just 2 points shy of Madfish II‘s 6 points – a successful title defense by Doug & Erica.

The tussle for 3rd place was a three-way contest between three variants of the Nacra: Nacra 15 (CHN 116), Nacra 20(Kaze Cat, 1088) and Nacra 5.0 (2037). The smallest of the 3 outgunned the competition, as she kept up a consistent performance of a 3rd, and two 4ths despite the strengthening breeze. Kaze Cat struggled with several errors on Sunday, from a port-starboard situation at the start to sailing the wrong course in the final race, it was not her day on the water. Despite the mistakes, she manages to stay ahead of the Nacra 5.0.

It was encouraging to see newcomers Nacra 5.0 improving in every race, scoring a 6th, 3rd and ending the day with a 2nd. All smiles and raring to go in the next regatta, Sailors Sebastian and Marc are looking forward to returning and pushing their limits at the Commodore’s Cup on 6 & 7 March.

Thank you all Catamaran Sailors for another splashing good weekend of racing in this NE Monsoon Breeze. The next race for some will be the upcoming re-run of the Round Tekong Race on 28th February 2021, warning signal is 1055hrs – if we don’t see you then, we look forward to welcoming everyone back for the annual Commodore’s Cup in a fortnight.

Results

2021 Cat Champs R4-6

2021 Cat Champs Overall

CSC Catamaran Championship 2021 (Day 1)

20th February 2021/in Competitive Racing, Regattas, Sailing/by CSC

Changi Sailing Club is home to over 50 multihulls, of which a large number are beach catamarans. It is therefore no wonder that the annual CSC Catamaran Championship is a permanent fixture of our CSC NE Monsoon Sailing Festival Schedule, celebrating multihull sailing at its best. The 21st edition sees a total of 8 Beach Catamarans participating – consisting of a diverse mix of Nacras and F16s. With the prevailing Monsoon Winds showing up on time today, it was smooth sailing for most boats, lapping up the consistent 10-14 knots winds from a steady NE direction.

2020’s defending champions Madfish II was off to a great start, scoring 3 bullets from 3 races to top the open and F16 one-design divisions at the end of day 1. Even though we are missing regulars such as Bad Influence and Taipan F16 (SIN 007) who would have provided a wider range of competition in the one-design division, she was still kept on her toes by her various Nacra rivals in the open division. Separated by a point, 2nd and 3rd placed Nacra 15 (CHN 116) and Kaze Cat (SIN 1088) will have to keep up the momentum in day 2, should they wish to hold on to their current positions. After 3 races, new-old entry Nacra 5.8 (058) helmed by Scott McCook and Nigel Signal’s solo effort on Stray Catz sees both boats tied on 13 points and lying in wait to pounce on any mistakes from the leaders in Day 2. Kudos to the Nacra 5.0 (2037) for completing all 3 races in their first ever Catamaran Championship! Great to see new entries confidently sailing in today’s conditions.

Speaking of mistakes, it was a relief to see only minor breakages and capsizes plagued the fleet – a good sign that we will see the return of the same number of boats for the remaining 3 races tomorrow. With the East Johor Straits Race taking place early tomorrow morning as well, we foresee another exciting day of sailing at Changi Sailing Club!

Results

2021 Cat Champs R1-3

2021 Cat Champs Overall Day 1