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| 10 - 15 January 2005 |
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One of only 5 ISAF Grade 1 Olympic Class Events each year, The Sail Melbourne International Regatta always kicks off the new year with a bang as the first of these events to be held each year.
Providing some warm relief for the Europeans from their dreary winter and with good facilities, good race management and generally good breezes, Sail Melbourne tends to attract some of the best sailors from around the world each January.
For 2005 SingaporeSailing sent three 470 Class teams and two Laser sailors to this important benchmarking event.
With two of the six 470 sailors having been resident in Melbourne at University since mid 2004, and with full year of training in this Olympic class behind them, xpectations were high for a good showing and we were not disappointed.
SingaporeSailing Olympic Squad Members Roy Junhao Tay and Chung Pei Ming sailed into the silver position from early in the regatta and cemented
their place from there. Chased all the way by the top teams from Australia and Zealand as well as their own team mates, Roy and Pei Ming sailed a consistent series in the varied onditions experienced to end up with a scorecard of top 5 placing's and one seventh placing in the last race where they dropped back through the fleet as they covered their nearest opposition in the overall point score.
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Their compatriots in the 470 Olympic Squad, Toh Liying and Tok Lee Ching (right), also sailed a consistent series with no worse than third place in each race until the final race where in an effort to chase down the silver medal position, they were over the start line early and despite thinking they had completed returned to start correctly were still subsequently scored as a premature starter.
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In the end they had to settle for a Bronze Medal in the 470 Women's class a vast improvement over their first ISAF Grade 1 Event, the Sail Melbourne International Regatta just one year ago.
In their first Grade 1 Event ever sailed in, Talent Athlete Program (TAP) members, Xu Yuan Zhen and Benjamin Tan placed a credible 10th in the 470 Men, have gained a lot of insight into the technically demanding class and are looking forward to pushing hard for a SEA Games position when selection trials are held later this year.
In the Laser Class the team at this event was led by 2004 Athens Olympian Stanley Tan and also included TAP member Koh Seng Leong. Both fresh from the Australian National Championships where Stanley finished 20th and Seng Leong 30th in the 120 boat fleet, both guys were looking forward to racing in the smaller fleet at Sail Melbourne.
In the end both struggled at times with the shifty conditions experienced on their course are which was located close to shore with small shifts paying gains or hurting dearly in a 32 boat fleet than included no less than 10 of the worlds top 30 Laser sailors and a handful of recent Olympians.
At the final count, Koh Seng Leong managed to outplay his older rival Stanley, finishing 15th with Stanley only a few points behind in 18th position. Again things are shaping up between these two sailors when the SEA Games spot is on the line later this year.
The Laser sailors now head back to Singapore for a well earned break from the sailing circuit while the 470 Squad have one more regatta ahead of them, the Australian 470 Championships in Adelaide . Only a short 850km drive away which will keep them occupied for the day after this regatta with racing commencing in Adelaide only 2 days later.
Mark Robinson
Technical Manager
SingaporeSailing
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