LHK Round Ubin Challenge 11 Jan 2026

We commenced the NE Monsoon sailing festivities with the first race of the Signature Sunday Series — the Lock Hong Kit Round Ubin Challenge. Greeted by a steady north-easterly breeze and an outstanding turnout of 28 boats, the Race Committee was all smiles as preparations got underway.

The Round Ubin passage is an iconic route unique to our location, and many sailors have their own stories and adventures of rounding Granite Island. This year’s fleet comprised 6 IRC, 11 PY Keelboats, 7 Multihulls, and 4 Beach Catamarans. With such a strong turnout, race officials prudently ran separate starts for each class, ensuring ample room along the start line.

IRC Class

A competitive six-boat IRC fleet delivered an exhilarating start. Adona was caught over early, forcing the J/29 to begin her 2026 campaign from behind. An early lead by a refreshed X-99 Born in Fire gave Thomas and crew a welcome confidence boost as she returned to Club racing with several new faces onboard.

Born in Fire led for much of the race and extended her advantage on the final leg. However, defending champion Jellico, skippered by Cedric, sailed a superb race despite also introducing new crew for the NE Monsoon season. Strong spinnaker work on the downwind legs proved decisive, with Jellico snatching victory by a mere 4 seconds on corrected time. Adona recovered well from her false start to claim third place.

The results mirrored the 2025 edition, though with significantly faster times across the fleet and the welcome addition of two new IRC entries — Forever Young and Bound to Please.

PY Keelboat Class

The largest fleet of the day was the PY Keelboat Class, with 11 boats ranging from performance cruisers to full-fledged racers. The standout performance came from Southern Light, which delivered a commanding race to win by an emphatic 6 minutes 30 seconds on corrected time over Sapphire Star.

Skippered by Simon Connor, the Olsen 34 featured a star-studded crew — the JockStars — who traded their usual charter boat Jock for the comfort and speed of Sapphire Star. Completing the podium just 50 seconds behind was Slingshot, a GK24 sailed expertly by Alyssa and Aaron.

We were also delighted to welcome new boats to the racing scene, from the refurbished Wild Thing to the comfortable cruiser Izaboo. It was fantastic to see so many boats making the passage around Pulau Ubin.

Multihull Class

In the Multihulls, Ding Hao rewrote her own Round Ubin record from 2021, registering the fastest multihull circumnavigation of Ubin in 1 hour 14 minutes 58 seconds. Skipper Campbell Jenkins, joined by Jonathan Mahoney and Abdullah Farid, formed a formidable trio on the water.

They successfully held off the larger Corsair 28s, with Dot Dot Dot and Miss Visayan unable to overhaul their smaller, nimbler rival. The latter finished just one minute ahead of the former, both edging out Firefly and denying her a podium finish. Nevertheless, Stefan and crew took plenty of positives as they look ahead to the Round Tekong on 18 January, hopefully armed with renewed confidence and a full spinnaker crew.

Beach Catamarans

Leading the circumnavigation was a rare and exciting sight — four beach catamarans. It was great to welcome back Scott, Jeremy, and Matt (with Uli), alongside new entry Bubble Trouble, skippered by James Cole.

Scott McCook’s solo effort around Ubin was particularly impressive, placing sustained pressure on a clearly rusty Addiction. Jeremy eventually sailed Addiction to line honours but lost first place on corrected time to Scott’s Nacra 16sq. Finishing just one minute behind Addiction, Bubble Trouble claimed third on handicap, leaving Matt and Uli narrowly outside the podium for the opening race of the series.

Congratulations to all the winners — a fantastic start to the new year and the NE Monsoon season. We look forward to back-to-back weekends of racing, beginning with the challenge of conquering Tekong on 18 January. See you all on the water!

Results

SignatureSun_LHKRoundUbin_Results_2026