Greetings from Australia and Merry Xmas.

Today the 420 and Laser sailors are off to Sydney to watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race which should be quite spectacular given this year is the largest fleet in History.

Yesterday (Xmas Day) the whole team spent the day eating and playing (soccer, water pistols, Frisbees, cards etc etc) at the Spinnakers Caravan Park where the 420 team are staying.

The Laser girls (and Jason) spent the morning preparing the food and did a great job on the salads.

YQ and Say Juan cooked the BBQ and a great time was had by all.

Over the past couple of weeks the sailors have been training hard. There have been some great training conditions on Lake Macquarie ranging from 8 to 18 knots on most days.

The Lasers have had 10 days of coaching from contract Australian Coaches Brett Beyer and Alana Slingsby.

They now have a few days rest before the Australian Nationals and Australian Youth Championships commence, and we wish them well.

We are awaiting the arrival of the Optimist team tomorrow which will take the Singapore Team in Australia to a grand total of near 40 sailors and coaches !

Cheers

Singapore Sailors on the rise in Australia

4 January 2005

Thirty-five sailors in the Laser, 420, Optimist and 470 classes, the largest contingent of Singapore Sailors ever sent overseas, is now competing in Australia .

But not only does Singapore now have the quantity of young sailors the results are also starting to show.

The Australian championships for the 420 and Laser classes are currently being sailed on Lake Macquarie , Newcastle , a large expanse of water four and a half times larger than Sydney harbour.

In the 420 class the pair of Teo Wee Chin and Terence Koh , both 17 years old, are poised to take third place in the open division of the Australian Championships the highest result ever by a Singaporean. With one race remaining Wee Chin and Terence have a 10 point lead over the fourth placed boat and must have a conservative final race to cement their 3 rd position in the 51 strong fleet.

In the women's division of the 420 class the 17 year old pair of Dawn Liu and Siobhan Tam hold a comfortable lead over their 15-year old compatriots Sarah Tan and Lim Tze Ting. With one race to go Dawn and Siobhan look like repeating the feat achieved by Toh Liying and Tok Lee Ching last year when they won the women's division of the Australian Nationals.

Performing well in Australian Championships has significant importance. Australia has been one of the top 3 nations at the Youth World Championships for many years and Singapore aspires to be a top performing nation at the Youth Worlds in coming years. Singapore has already won one Youth Worlds medal when the 420 pair of Roy Tay and Ou Dahui won silver in 2001.

Wee Chin, Terence, Dawn and Siobhan, all members of SingaporeSailing's Talented Athlete Program (TAP), represented Singapore at the 2004 Youth Worlds with credible top 6 finishes. They all aim to win a medal at the 2005 Youth Worlds, to be sailed in Busan , Korea in July.

Current positions of the Singapore 420 team in the open division are;

Teo Wee Chin and Terence Koh - 3 rd

Melcolm Huang and Pei Quan Chung - 7 th

Dawn Liu and Siobhan Tam - 8 th

Sarah Tan and Lim Tze Ting - 12 th

Jackson Ho and Justin Wong - 19 th

At a nearby Yacht Club on Lake Macquarie the Australian Laser Nationals are also nearing completion. This is the largest Laser event ever staged in Australia with 286 entrants across the 3 Laser classes - Laser Standard, Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7.

The Laser standard is the men's Olympic Single-handed class and the Laser Radial is the newly introduced women's Olympic Singled-handed class. Due to the Olympic nature of the Laser class the standard of the competition is very high and the Australian Championships is ranked as an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 1 event, the highest level of international sailing competition, and attracts many top class entrants from around the world.

Even with the large numbers and high standard of competition Singapore Sailors have in general performed above expectation.

Most notable are the Youth Girls where 16-year old Lo Man Yi is currently in 3 rd place with compatriot Mabel Ong (17 years) in 4 th with two races remaining in the 12 race series. 14 year old Victoria Chan, one of the youngest competitors in the event, is currently in 6 th in the women's youth event.

In the Youth boys, 16-year old Maximilian Soh is in 4 th position. Maximilian, a member of SingaporeSailing's Talented Athlete Program (TAP) and has acquitted himself well in his first outing in an Olympic standard event.

All these sailors have their sights on the Youth World championships in the coming years.

In the open men's Laser standard competition where there are 123 competitors Singapore 's positions with 2 races to go are;

Stanley Tan - 19 th

Koh Seng Leong - 33 rd

Maximilian Soh - 41 st

Chris Lim - 58 th

In the open women's Laser Radial event where there are 33 competitors Singapore 's positions with 2 races remaining are;

Lo Man Yi - 11 th

Mabel Ong - 12 th

Victoria Chan - 14 th

Jeannette Foo - 22 nd

In the open Laser Radial event where there are 120 competitors Singapore 's positions with 2 races remaining are;

Loh Zhi Chao - 19 th

Quek Zhen Hao - 34 th

Lo Man Yi - 50 th

Mabel Ong - 51 st

Victoria Chan - 65 th

Jeannette Foo - 79 th

Jason Yip - 80 th

After good performances, especially at the Youth levels in the 420 and Laser class, hopes are high for good results in the upcoming Australian Youth Championships which commence on the 7 th of January also on Lake Macquarie . A small distance down the lake a group of 8 Singapore Optimist sailors are preparing for the Australian Optimist Nationals also to commence on the same day.

Results for the 420 and Laser regattas can be obtained from the following websites;

http://www.lmyc.com.au/tyregattas/420Champ0405/series.htm

http://www.laser.asn.au/Results/2004-05/Nationals/Results.htm

Singapore bags two Golds and two Silver medals at Australian Youth Championships

11 January 2005

Thirty-five sailors in the Laser, 420, Optimist and 470 classes, the largest contingent of Singapore Sailors ever sent overseas, has been training and competing in Australia over the past 1 month.

But not only does Singapore now have the quantity of young sailors the quality is starting to show across all fleets.

In the Australian Youth Championships which concluded today, Singapore came out trumps in the 420 and Laser classes. The nine race series, which is Australia 's selection event for the Youth World Championships, was conducted on Lake Macquarie , a large expanse of water four and a half times larger than Sydney harbour, 2 hours north of Sydney

In the 420 girl's class the pair of Dawn Liu and Siobhan Tam, both 17 years old, improved on their 3 rd placing last year to take the top honours. With two wins in the final two races the 15-year old pair of Sarah Tan and Lim Tze Ting clinched the silver. The 40 strong 420 fleet included both male and female competitors but results were split into 420 boy and 420 girl divisions.

In the previous week, Dawn and Siobhan, who are members of SingaporeSailing's Talented Athlete Program (TAP), also clinched the open women's title at the Australian 420 National Championships. This was the second year in a row that Singapore had won the open women's competition; last year the title being taken by now Olympic 470 sailors Toh Liying and Tok Lee Ching.

In the very competitive 420 boys division the 16-year old pair of Melcolm Huang and Chung Pei Quan finished 5 th which followed their credible 7 th placing in the Australian Open 420 Championships in the previous week, one of the highest finishes by a Singapore boat in the Australian 420 Championships

In the Laser class TAP program member Maximilian Soh, 16, beat off 20 other top young sailors to win the Australian Youth Championships, 11 points clear of Australian sailor Tom Watson. Maxi showed his true spirit to win the last three races of the nine race series to rise to the top of the points table and become the clear leader. Country man Christopher Lim, in only his second overseas competition program, sailed superbly to finish in 4 th place in the Australian Youth Championships. He was unlucky not to take the bronze medal as he finished on equal points with Australian Warwick Hill for 3 rd but lost on a count back.

In the Laser Radial boys Loh Zhi Chao and Quek Zhen Hao finished 10 th and 12 th respectively in the 45 boat combined fleet. In the previous week Loh Zhi Chao finished a credible 18 th in the 120 boat open laser radial fleet and 5 th in the youth division. Jason Yip in his first overseas event has improved dramatically and finished a well earned 15 th placing in the Australian Youths, in front of many Gold fleet sailors

Under the pressure of the last day of competition 16-year old Lo Manyi turned on a brilliant display of tactical racing to gain a 1 st and 2 nd to elevate her to the overall Silver medal position in the girls Laser Radial competition. 14-year old Sports School Student Victoria Chan battled hard to finish fourth, and like Christopher Lim actually finished on equal points with the bronze medalist but lost it on a count back. 17-year old Mabel Ong finished the competition in 6 th .

The top result for the girls comes one week after Manyi and Mabel did incredibly well to finish in the Gold fleet at the 120 strong Australian Open Laser Radial National Championships and a very credible 11 th and 12 th in the Open Women's Division and 3 rd and 4 th in the Women's Youth Division.

The Laser Radial has recently been elected as the Olympic single-handed class for women and Jeannette Foo, one of the youngest sailors in the event, has been contributing to the development of the class for the Olympics by helping test a new carbon fibre mast, designed for lighter-weight finished. Jeannette in her first overseas competition finished 10 th in the youth championships.

Performing well in the Australian Youth Championships has significant importance. Australia has been one of the top 3 nations at the Youth World Championships for many years and Singapore aspires to be a top performing nation at the Youth Worlds in coming years. Singapore has already won one Youth Worlds medal when the 420 pair of Roy Tay and Ou Dahui won silver in 2001 and come close in 2003 and 2004 with 4 th , 5 th and 6 th placing's in the 420 boys and girls divisions.

The young Singapore sailors who have performed so admirably in Australia , now have their sites now set on gaining selection for the 2005 Youth Worlds to be staged in Busan , Korea in July.

Full results for the Australian Youth Championships can be obtained from;

http://www.yachting.org.au/

Results for the Australian Open 420 and Open Laser regattas can be obtained from the following websites;

http://www.lmyc.com.au/tyregattas/420Champ0405/series.htm

http://www.laser.asn.au/Results/2004-05/Nationals/Results.htm

Andrew Sanders
High Performance Manager
SingaporeSailing