CSC Optimist Squad in Lake Garda (7-17 April 2022)

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Blessed with a beautiful location and a natural ‘wind machine’ that delivers almost daily 20+ knot southerly ‘Ora’ winds, Lake Garda in Northern Italy is a global sailing mecca. Over the years it has become home to many high profile sailing events including the annual ‘Lake Garda Optimist Meeting’. Hosted by the Fraglia Vela Riva Yacht Club in Riva Del Garda – this event holds the Guinness Record as the world’s largest single-class regatta. 2022 was the 40th year of the Lake Garda Optimist Meeting with entries from just under 1,000 young Optimist sailors from 35 countries, including a team from CSC.

Six members of CSC’s Optimist Alpha squad, accompanied by a support team of their Dads, were waved off by Coach Jhing at Changi airport on April 7th.

Four days of training with the championship coaches of the Atlantis Academy followed. It was a baptism by fire for the CSC squad with 30+ knot winds and 10 degree Celsius temperatures for their first day on the lake. But they adapted well and were soon enjoying more consistent force 3-5 winds, beautiful spring sunshine and the stunning Lake Garda scenery.

The formal start of the event on April 12th was marked by an Olympic style opening ceremony. This saw the CSC squad parading alongside their fellow competitors through the charming old streets of Riva Del Garda, proudly flying their Singapore and CSC flags.

Racing kicked off the same day with the ‘Country Cup’, with one sailor from each country going head to head in a series of short races. Tiago Salgado stepped up and did a great job representing CSC and Singapore.

For the main regatta, all participating sailors were then assigned to one of five equally sized, mixed ability, qualifying fleets.

The race management of such a large fleet was very impressive. A line with a two pins ends and a centrally placed committee boat was used to oversee each start, with approximately 180 boats in each of the 5 fleets sailing 3 races around the same course at only 10-15 minute intervals!

The results of the qualifying races were used to assign the sailors into Gold, Silver, Bronze, Emerald and Pearl  fleets for a series of ‘Finals’ races to finish the event. Considering the difference in conditions, level of competition and relative levels of experience, the CSC squad performed admirably. Tiago Salgado (SGP 719) and Samuel Tan-Hardy (SGP 727) placed well in the Bronze fleet. Lukas Kiesselbach (BAH 601) finished strongly in the Emerald Fleet. Caio, Riley and Gaitan Sullivan (SGP 708, SGP 713, SGP 714) competed and finished together as brothers-in-arms in the Pearl fleet.

The winner of the Gold fleet and overall champion of the event was Sviatoslav Madonich (UKR 311) of Ukraine. It was an emotional moment for all to see this young sportsman celebrating his win and the positive, inclusive spirit of the event, with other young European competitors.

Apart from the sailing, the trip was an amazing experience for all involved. The hospitality from the club and the town was excellent. Much pasta, pizza and gelato was enjoyed by all not to mention a little vino and limoncello by the hard working fatherly support crew!

With the further relaxation of travel restrictions here’s looking forward to seeing the CSC and Singapore flags flying at more global sailing events very soon.

 

Jonathan Hardy & Claudio Salgado

 

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2022 Twilight Series I – Race 2

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A mid-afternoon thunderstorm over the north-western parts of Singapore threatened to derails plans for the Twilight Series I, Race 2. An atypical north-east breeze continued to hold back the the northwesterly system all the way till 1530hrs, before it swung to the west and stabilized into an upwind beat to squance for the first leg. With travel back on the cards, we miss many of the regulars, but still enjoy a healthy fleet of 14 boats across all classes.

In the IRC Class, absence from boats such as Born in Fire, Simba, Jong Dee and Red Rum One meant that the race settled into a two-way tango between Waka-Tere and Minx. With only 2 persons onboard, Minx recovered from a suppressed start to eventually claim both line honours and victory on corrected time.

The PY A and PY B Classes were the most well attended, with 4 boats representing the A Class and 5 boats representing the B Class. Adona was head and shoulders above the remaining 3 boats in the fleet, comfortably winning the PY A Class both on line honours and on corrected time. The J29 stayed well ahead of Sapphire Star in 2nd and Shardana in 3rd. Simon Connor sailed Sapphire Star well, putting on a gutsy close-quarters display for the final stretch to the finish line.

In the PY B Class, Remington returned from a long break, looking like she never left. The S&S 42 sailed superbly in the prevailing conditions, keeping up with the PY A fleet throughout the race. She eventually crossed the line first and claimed victory on handicap as well. It was a battle of the 2-up boats for positions 2nd & 3rd, as Marut did just enough to maintain a 30 second lead over 3rd placed Bolina after corrected time. It was Pedro’s first foray into Twilight sailing with his Maxi 77 – a great effort and result by the Portuguese Skipper!

The Multihulls doubled their numbers, as Miss Visayan welcomed a playmate on water in the form of Bula – skippered by Michael Flecker. With the help of experienced Trimaran Sailor Tim Hill, Bula sailed well and kept up with Miss V, but could not keep up with the latter’s superior boat speed. That coupled with the strengthening outgoing tide resulted in the strategic decision for Bula‘s skipper and crew to focus their energy on returning to the bar for cold beers. Tim Ghinn on Stray Catz was the only Cat in her Category, continuing to build his skills and confidence sailing single-handed on a taipan F16 with only his mainsail.

Congratulations to all the winners, we look forward to everyone joining us for the following upcoming events:

  1. Race/Cruise to Lazarus Island (30 Apr – 2 May)
  2. Sunday Series I – Race 3 (8 May)
  3. Twilight Series I – Race 3 (14 May)
  4. Ketam Coastal Clean-up (15 May)

Results

IRC R2_Twilight Series I_2022

PY A R2_Twilight Series I_2022

PY B R2_Twilight Series I_2022

MH R2_Twilight Series I_2022

BC R2_Twilight Series I_2022

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Good Friday Ketam Cruise 2022

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The easing of SMMs and overall relaxation of restrictions has been a positive influence on the sailing community. A good example would be our recently concluded Good Friday Cruise, which involved a fun race circumnavigating pulau ubin against wind and tide. Slingshot positioned herself at Serangoon Buoy to finish the fleet, a spot which rewarded the captain and crew with an unexpected catch! (refer to photos).

Apart from a call from the authorities to remind our sailors not to enter Malaysian waters – the afternoon went smoothly. Thankfully the weather wasn’t too terrible, and most boats successfully made it to the finish line and subsequently the anchorage before sundown. Special mention goes to Clytie – for sailing single-handed with spinnaker up silently into the anchorage, after dark!

We had a total of 15 boats on water, with 9 boats staying overnight in Ketam Channel. Thank you all who joined us, at some point or another:

  1. Red Rum One
  2. Bolina
  3. Sequin
  4. Marut
  5. Miss Visayan
  6. SDF
  7. Kaze
  8. Jaza Too
  9. Annupuri
  10. Clytie
  11. Birregurra
  12. Olmeto
  13. Bula
  14. Ganesh
  15. Slingshot (that’s us!)

With the rubber dinghy tagged along, it served as a convenient transport for team Slingshot to visit some of the boats in the channel after dark, in what was likened to a traditional pub crawl. Fantastic to see 3 solo sailors which stayed overnight, all confident sailors, on very different boats. Basil Byrnes on Birregurra (Hanse 415) was snuggled in nicely at the eastern corner, and the two under 25ft boats (Marut & Clytie) side by side in the main bay. We hear one of them had to make 51 tacks and 5 gybes in total to get to the finish line – what a feat!

As I made my way through the channel, hopping from boat to boat, I realized that these were all maiden visits for me! It was such a treat, visiting Birregurra, Ganesh, SDF and Marut – with each captain so accommodating to have us onboard and share stories of their travels. Time passed quickly (no doubt hastened by the immersive conversations), and the night ended close to midnight for us.

We were woken up by the sharp patter of rain in the early morning, resulting in temperatures going down and shelters going up. Though fleeting, it was a welcome relief from the heat, as we slept well in the remaining hours of the morning. After a hearty breakfast of wraps and leftover pasta, Slingshot departed for CSC, bringing an end to this short but satisfying cruise.

Once again, thank you all for joining us – Happy Good Friday everyone!

Results

Keelboats

Multihulls

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2022 Sunday Series I – Race 2

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With the further easing of restrictions, we see a noticeable reduction in participation for our weekly races, as sailors take the opportunity to travel. Despite the smaller numbers, we were impressed with the nearly full attendance in the IRC Class, 7 boats contended for podium in yesterday’s race. The weather was not great, but winds were sufficient to make headway against a strong outgoing tide.

After a recent measurement exercise, Adona joins the IRC gang with her new endorsed certificate – providing a breath of fresh air in the fleet. The J29’s skipper is no stranger to the IRC fleet, having previously owned and raced on a J24 and X99. Ad and his crew looked competitive on the windward-leeward course, sailing well and keeping up with her larger rivals. When the numbers were crunched, her big sister, the J35 (Jong Dee) triumphed – taking top spot just 16 seconds ahead of Adona. Apart from securing line honours, Red Rum One had done enough to claim the 3rd place on the podium, an encouraging result for the Archambault 40.

The PY A fleet was represented by a trio of 30-40 footers, with the largest being Birregurra, a Hanse 415. The german performance-cruiser sailed effortlessly under the skilled solo helmsmanship of Basil Byrnes, but struggled to keep up with Invictus and Shardana in the light air and strong tide. The Mumm 30 led and completed the race comfortably ahead, but only just lost out on victory by a mere 3 seconds to the Dufour 34 on corrected time.

Marut punched well above her weight, sailing so well that they overtook all PY A boats and even held their lead over Invictus for a short while. The Jeanneau Fun was the only boat from the PY B Class which finished the course, as fellow competitors Brio and Montserrat succumbed to the spring tide and subsequently retired.

As usual, Miss Visayan continues to be the only representative for the Multihulls, and Babe flew the Beach Catamaran flag high, while flying her kite for the first time since re-rigging the boat.

Congratulations to all the winners – We look forward to the return of Club racing on the 23rd April, for Race 2 of Twilight Series I.

Please take note that there will be no racing next week as the Ambassadors Cup 2022 has been rescheduled to 5th November. On the following weekend, CSC will be organizing a Good Friday Ketam Cruise (15-16 April). If you’d like to participate with you boat, please email choy@csc.org.sg .

Results

IRC_SS1_R2_2022

PY-A_SS1_R2_2022

PY-B_SS1_R2_2022

MH_SS1_R2_2022

BC_SS1_R2_2022

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