Singapore Sailing Federation

SINGAPORE is on the verge of its best "away" performance in a SEA Games.

With one day of racing to go, the sailing team are on course to win at least six gold medals here in Pattaya, Thailand.

If they do pull it off today in the waters off Ocean Marina Yacht Club, Team Singapore's medal tally would rise to 45 golds, three more than the record haul of 42 achieved at the last SEA Games in the Philippines in 2005.

It would also match the 1973 Seap Games mark of 45 golds, which is the second-best all time, only behind the 50 collected at the 1993 SEA Games which Singapore hosted.

Team manager Andrew Sanders was not in the mood to count any medals, though, as he expects wind conditions to be poor again and make racing a lottery.

The chief executive officer of SingaporeSailing said yesterday: "Statistically speaking, we could even end up with nine gold medals, if those in second place move up.

"But it is really hard to say. The wind conditions have been poor throughout these Games, lacking sufficient speed and dropping and shifting suddenly.

"That's why it's been difficult for everyone, not just us. It will be like a lottery out there again on the final day."

So far, the sailors have one silver medal from the Optimist team race.

After the completion of yesterday's races, Singapore led in the 420 men's, the 470 men's and women's, the Laser Radial, the Optimist (girls) and Super Mod. To maintain their respective leads, Singapore's sailors will need their 'A' game today, particularly in three of the classes — the 470 men's, Optimist (girls) and Super Mod — where they only hold slender leads.

In the 470 men's, Roy Tay and Chung Pei Ming — who have qualified for next year's Olympics — are two points ahead of the Philippines pair of Ridgely Balladares and Rommel Chavez, with three races left.

In the Optimist (girls), Rachel Lee leads Thailand's Poonpat Noppakao by a point with two races left. And in the Super Mod, Lo Jun Hao and Thailand's Sutee Poonpat are joint-first on 12 points (nett) with two races left, with the Singaporean just ahead after more first-place finishes.

Singapore is also in the gold medal hunt in the Optimist (boys), with Russell Kan second on 14 points (nett), two behind leader Navee Thamsoontorn of Thailand with two races remaining.

"The instructions to them are clear and simple," said Sanders.

"For example, Jun Hao in the Super Mod must beat his Thai opponent. It's as simple as that. And we've told them not to do anything silly and stay out of trouble."

Yesterday, wind conditions hovered around eight knots, before dropping abruptly to one to two knots.

If such conditions persist today, there is a possibility that some or all the races may be cancelled and the medals awarded based on yesterday's standings.

Said Sanders: "Win or lose, it has been an education for the sailors and the coaches. It may be a smaller competition, but the SEA Games has proved to be quite difficult, given its relatively smaller fleets and difficult conditions. The experience of sailing in such difficult conditions will stand our athletes in good stead for the future."