CSC ILCA MONSOON REGATTA (Day 1)
After a 2 weeks break, sailors came back to racing today for CSC ILCA MONSOON REGATTA 2023.
Day 1 of the regatta, at exactly 1200hrs the first warning signal was heard at the race course area between Pulau Tekong and Chek Jawa signaling the sailors that race is starting soon! Perfect weather condition, sun is up and the wind is constantly blowing from solid NorthEasterly direction. In the ILCA 4 Race 1, Kiera Marie Carlyle took the first bullet for the day, not far away from great contenders Kenan Tan and Jarrod Toh both battling for the 1st & 2nd place respectively. The gushing outgoing tide has made the sailors to stay sailing on the left hand side of the course and aiming for the port lay line approaching the top mark. An easy sail probably for them, obvious strategical call specially for experienced racers. In the ILCA 6, Race 1 & 2 sailor Felix Koo Yi Xiong showed great performance with 2 bullets in the list.
Race 2, the wind picked up so as the current, again..left hand side course. In this race, Kenan Tan was leading the pack not until on the last downwind leg, Jarrod Toh overtook him, gybing ahead the port mark and won Race 2 by an inch. It was a close fight! As the wind picked up, sailors were starting to show exhaustion, seemed overwhelmed by a strong wind condition. Race must go on!
Race 3, the wind became stronger and more waves and still gushing outgoing tide which makes the situation more challenging specially for small size racer. They were already tired and starting to slow down their performances. It became a tougher race when the Race Officer decided to extend the top mark! The upwind leg is longer! A true test of a good hiking techniques and stamina! More sailors were starting to capsize even before the race starts and during the downwind leg as sailing in this point requires more boat balance and agility to make a quick movements to handle the boat. Coaches and safety boats were deployed to rescue sailors and gave them some time to recover before Race 4 started.
The last race of the day, finally! Sailors continued to race in the same wind condition, a little stronger from the previous races. However, the sailors has managed to handle the boat better and sailed conservatively this time. An exhausting 4 races in a day! A good job to all the sailors for finishing all the races today and hope they will have a good recovery for another day of racing tomorrow! After 4 races, the top 3 in ILCA4 are Jarrod Toh – 1st place, Kenan Tan -2nd place & Joshua Cheong – 3rd place. In ILCA 6, Felix Koo in 1st, Ian Chow Yi Jun- 2nd & Abigail Koh in 3rd. Meanwhile, kuddos to our CSC top sailors Caio Sullivan – 9th , Lukas Kiesselbach – 11th , Ikuto Mori – 13th in the overall results. We hope to see see better results for the rest of the team tomorrow. Will the top sailors maintain their lead?
The NorthEasterly wind has tested both sailors and their equipment today, as many boats faced the effect of true NE monsoon, lost the rudder, extension tiller, snapped pulley and exhaustion from capsizing. Overall, all sailors were accounted for and no serious injury was recorded. Have a well deserved rest sailors, see you on water tomorrow!
Results
- Sunday Series I 2023 (Race 1) - 20th March 2023
- CSC Lady Helm Race 2023 - 12th March 2023
- CSC Commodore’s Cup 2023 (Day 2) - 6th March 2023
