January 2023 | Changi Sailing Club

Bintan Regatta 2023 (30 Jan)

31st January 2023/in Competitive Racing, Bintan Regatta, Regattas, Sailing/by CSC

After a night of anxious rest, hopeful sailors were greeted by further rain, dampening the mood at breakfast. The traditional Jong Display scheduled to take place at 8am was unfortunately postponed, as was the scheduled departure for the Marina due to the unfavourable weather.

The weather forecast predicted a few hours of dry weather from 12 noon to 5pm, providing renewed enthusiasm for the Race Committee and participants. However, when the Race Committee departed BBT to scout the route and test the conditions, the short sail revealed that poor visibility was not the only issue for the sailors. upon arriving at the northwestern corner of Bintan, Skybird encountered 20-24 knots of wind with a rough sea state of 3-4 metre swells. The yacht struggled with just half a headsail, and was relentlessly battered by the conditions attempting to head east to the race location. Over at the Lagoi Bay, the operations crew were also face with rolling seas, conditions ill-suited for laying the marks of the course.

With the safety of the participating yachts, sailors and supporting staff in mind, the decision was made to postpone racing for the weekend. The race winners will be decided on the weekend of 29-30 April (Labour Day weekend), where skippers came to an agreement to race in a make-up regatta at Changi Sailing Club to determine the winners for this year’s event. Yachts which did not participate in this event may also participate on 29-30 April, but only the 6 participating yachts will be eligible to win the challenge trophies and prizes kindly sponsored by Bintan Resorts Cakrawala and Grand Lagoi Hotel by Willson.

Sunday afternoon and evening was peppered with activities, from a exhilarating Jong Sailing display (finally!) at Lagoi Bay to rich cultural performances by the local communities at the closing dinner, participants were treated to a multi-sensory experience to conclude a wonderful weekend in Bintan marred slightly by the lack of racing.

Changi Sailing Club would like to take this opportunity to thank the amazing team from Bintan Resorts Cakrawala together with the team at Grand Lagoi Hotel by Willson for the outstanding support and hospitality throughout the weekend. We would also like to thank the participants: Bula, Waka Tere, Minx, Silhouette, Olmeto and Ikaroa for joining us for the inaugural edition of this event. Last but not least, all of this could not have taken place without the efforts and support from the governing authorities, agents and administrative staff responsible for clearing our fleet in and out of Singapore and Indonesia.

See you all on 29-30 April for the final conclusion of the 1st Bintan Regatta 2023!

Bintan Regatta 2023 (27 & 28 Jan)

29th January 2023/in Bintan Regatta, Competitive Racing, Regattas, Sailing/by CSC

With the North East Monsoon scheduled to blow strong and true for the period of January to March, Changi Sailing Club was excited to organized a new event at a new location – Lagoi Bay, Bintan.

As part of the Club’s efforts to retain the Nongsa Regatta sailing dates, the Bintan Regatta was conceived as an alternative location and event to the regatta many sailors were accustomed to. traditionally held on the last weekend of January, the Nongsa Regatta could not happen this year due to a clash of dates with the Nongsa Neptune Regatta. As such, a quick turn-around to find an alternative racing location led us to Bintan, Lagoi Bay.

Despite the initial strong interest, lack of crew, leave and abrupt life plans meant that only a fleet of 6 boats could make it to Bintan for this inaugural event. Many thanks to Minx, Waka Tere, Silhouette, Olmeto, Ikaroa, Bula and Kaatabuggi for making time and coordinating crew to make this event happen!

On the day of arrival, wind conditions were near-perfect. North-Easterly breeze blowing strong, coupled with no rain meant that sailors had an enjoyable sail from Changi Sailing Club to Bandar Bentan Telani (BBT). Although the CIQP process took awhile, it was relatively smooth, eventually clearing all participants to take the transport to Grand Lagoi Hotel, the accommodation partners for this event.

At the Hotel, a welcome dinner greeted the sailors, hosted on the 7th floor at bar7 restaurant. the dining outlet boasts a great view of the island, a most appropriate introduction to the 1st Bintan Regatta! The evening was a well-coordinated one, attended by distinguished guests from Bintan Resorts Cakrawala (co-organisers), Bintan Tourism Office and other government agencies. Sailors were treated to traditional indonesian music and dance performances, paired with delicious food prepared by the culinary team from Grand Lagoi Hotel.

Fast-forward to day 1 of racing, the breeze came from a northerly direction, accompanied by a light rain and ominous dark clouds in the horizon. By the time sailors made it the BBT, the visibility had dropped to unsafe levels, prompting the Race Committee to put up the AP Flag, signaling a postponement. After almost 3 hours of waiting, the Race Committee eventually decided to pull the plug, raising the AP over A signal, inviting sailors to close up their boats and return to the hotel for an early rest. The weather showed no signs of letting up, with skies clearing for a brief moment in the afternoon before returning to poor visibility and foamy seas in the evening.

Plans were made to start the race earlier tomorrow, together with a traditional Jong Exhibition display by the locals at 8am. Fingers crossed the weather gets better, allowing for at least 3 races to be conducted before we conclude this inaugural sailing regatta. All the best to the participating teams!

CSC Signature Sunday Series – LHK Round Ubin Challenge

9th January 2023/in Competitive Racing, Regattas, Sailing, Signature Sundays/by CSC

With the recent dry-ish weather and somewhat consistent NE winds, some sailors were hopeful for a big blow during the Lock Hong Kit Round Ubin Challenge yesterday – the first of 2 races constituting the 2023 CSC Signature Sunday Series. Sadly (and unsurprisingly), an atypical North-Westerly breeze greeted the fleet, coupled with an outgoing tide made the first upwind leg to Serangoon Buoy a most challenging uphill task for all 23 boats participating.

The smallest fleet comprised of 3 beach catamarans. Despite their size, this fleet also boasts the fastest boat to circumnavigate Pulau Ubin in 2023 – Addiction! Her time of 2hr 42min 46sec was sufficient to award her with the first victory of 2023 in the beach catamaran class. Twisted Creature (previously Bad Influence) is Kellie Twigge & Matt Ross’s latest acquisition, swapping one viper for another (presumably faster) to better contend for the 2023 season. They placed a commendable 2nd overall – but will have much to learn on their new machine. In 3rd and just out of podium contention was Zaheera Hashim’s Nacra 15! With the National Catamaran Championships taking place on 11 & 12 February, we look forward to seeing an increase number of catamarans sailing and training over the next few weekends.

In the Multihull Class, we witness the largest congregation of large multihulls since the Trimaran Nationals in 2022! Great to have Corsairs, an M23, a Firefly and a Weta all racing together on the same course. At the top, we welcome back Jaza Too – Skipper Graham Horn has returned after a long break, and is looking forward to being more active in the coming weeks. Coming in a close 2nd is last year’s best Multihull performer, Bula! With most of 2022 being mostly a match-racing series between Bula and Miss Visayan, the return of Jaza Too and introduction of new additions Ragnarok and Kublai Khan to make up 8 boats on the start line certainly bodes well for the Multihull fleet in 2023.

The Keelboat PY Class also had a strong attendance, with 8 boats signing on for the challenge. Unfortunately a rigging issue forced Jonty J to retire, reducing the starting line-up to 7. Despite their best efforts, the strong tide and tricky wind conditions resulted in 2 more boats unable to complete the challenge in the alloted time. Kudos to Nel Blu and Windflirt for giving it their best shot! For the remaining 5 that finished, it was not the top 3 winners that caught our attention. In 5th place, Jen’s Jaunt‘s afternoon jaunt around pulau ubin took a total of 4hr 27min 24sec, only over 2mins short of the time limit! On handicap correction, she missed out on 4th place by a mere 6 seconds to Ikaroa, a Beneteau 381 skippered by another new sailor (Christian Guese) looking to race more often with us. At the peak of the fleet, the smallest keelboat was also the fastest. Brio claimed their first win for the year, beating Olmeto and Southern Light in the process.

It was an intense battle for line honours between Silhouette and Adona. For most of the race, Adona sailed beautifully to lead the fleet around the island. The action began on the northern side of pulau ubin, with the tricky conditions and technical mistakes allowing for overtaking maneuvers on each other all the way to the finish line. Silhouette eventually crossed the line seconds ahead of the J29, but had to settle for 2nd on corrected time – awarding Adona with the LHK Round Ubin Challenge Challenge Trophy 2023. In a distant and comfortable 3rd, well done to Kurt and Gill for circumnavigating Pulau Ubin with Waka Tere 2-up!

Uncle Kit

Many of us knew him as the no-nonsense International Jury that presides over all of our Regattas – maintaining discipline amongst the sailor s during major events such as the Commodore’s Cup and Ambassadors’ Cup. Armed with a glass of his favourite Red Wine, he regularly takes to his “throne” in a comfy corner of the Ubin Lounge, watching the sailors race along the Johor Straits.

We now celebrate his life and achievements with the annual LHK Round Ubin Challenge (His all-time favourite passage race!), one of three signature passage races that make up our club’s Signature Sunday Series.

Thank you all for participating in this signature event, we now take a break for SailGP, Chinese New Year (and Neptune Regatta) before we resume our overseas racing activities with the inaugural Bintan Regatta on 27-30 January 2023. See you in Indonesia!

Results

SignatureSun_LHKRoundUbinChallenge_Results_2023

Hangover Race 2023

2nd January 2023/in Competitive Racing, Sailing, Social/by CSC

Every year we joke about how sailors should be seriously hungover to qualify for the Hangover Race. This year, we believe it was extra authentic, as the Race Committee sounded like he had one on the VHF Radio when giving instructions to the fleet of 13. Though the winds could not compare to what we had on the last day of 2022, it was still great NE Sailing conditions on a pennant 4 course. Having not sailed to Tekong Buoy for many months due to the inconsistent weather, it was satisfying to finally race Course 4, a natural beat to the north-western tip of Pulau Tekong and long run back along the Kuala Johor Straits.

At the tip of the fleet, it was a fierce tussle between the quartet of Trimarans, with Bula leading the competition. It was a close fight to the very end, and Bula emerged victorious by the slimmest of margins – 6 seconds ahead of Phoenix on corrected time. In 3rd place we have Miss Visayan – helmed by guest Skipper, Ad Smit from Adona! Jan Verdaasdonk had a great day on water as well – this is the first time we have Ragnarok racing with us! Despite missing out on podium, she had a respectable finish, trailing just 2 minutes behind the more experienced trio.

Not far off from the Multihull fleet, the Keelboat IRC Class also had plenty of excitement on the course, a two-way tekong tango between Waka Tere and Silhouette quickly developed on the beat to Tekong Buoy. It was kept close all the way to finish, but Waka Tere excelled both across the line and on corrected time. After an extended break due to boat issues, the mighty Skybird finally shook off the rust, sailing well to keep within a stone’s throw from the leading pair to claim 3rd across the line and 2nd on corrected time!

The biggest fleet was none other than the Keelboat PY Class! Boasting 6 boats, the fleet welcomed back Brio and Genesis after their long hiatus – great to see increased participation all round. At the top, Marut had 2 persons onboard today, which made a huge difference to his performance. With the extra strength and weight, the Jeanneau Fun looked like she was having fun on the course, staying well ahead of bigger and faster boats to claim line honours and handicap victory. It was a day for the small boats, as Brio scored a 2nd place finish on corrected time, ahead of Jock in 3rd. Bravo Zulu to Pedro and Lionel for the 2-man effort and never-say-die attitude – bouncing back from a false start to finish off as podium winners in 3rd.

Congratulations to all the winners – the Race Officer is now signing out to continue nursing his hangover. Happy 2023 everyone.

Results

Results_2023 Hangover Race