Dear all

Well, as you may have heard we finally finished with 4 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.

Our target set back in May this year was to go with a young team, to expose more sailors to the rigors of the games environment, to get four Golds and for everyone to get a medal.

We have achieved all that with one exception. Our young windsurfer Leonard finished 4th. He was sailing the very tough Mistral Light class (open age) and up against much older and seasoned campaigners. Leonard and the team knew his journey to Pattaya was most about learning and gaining experience for the future – such as for the next SEA and Asian Games and Youth World Championships. Last night we had a short team get together and Leonard spoke of his great experiences here with the team and the amount he has learnt. Both he and Joshua have enjoyed every second of the campaign and we are all very happy to have them in the ever growing and greatly bonded team.

Seniors such as Roy, Seng Leong, Justin Wong and Pei Ming spoke of the team and the great camaraderie and it was reflected by even our youngest members such as Darren and Rachel.

The team, although largely a new group (with 15 rookies), has bonded very fast and I believe that has carried us through the regatta very well.

It was certainly a tough affair.

The Thais, as expected, had trained hard in their home-waters and were eager to show their local supporters what they can do.

The support for the Thai team was strong from the local people and each morning a “battle” over the loudest cheers sprung up. The SingaporeSailing support crew with the added help of the Choo clan, vastly out numbered by the Thais, were able to even out scream our local hosts. On the second morning Quintin thought of adding whistles to our morning screaming session. That was a great success and on the following day the Thai’s had whistles too.

When we did a Mexican Wave down the breakwater all dressed in red, the Thais followed suit the next day (only with more people and wearing their traditional yellow). It was all very good natured and very funny. Each support team would clap the other when they thought of something new and entertaining to do!

I still think we maintained the edge in the cheering stakes and could say we safely take home the gold medal in this discipline (such stamina, determination and grit from our supporters under fire in hostile territory).

The conditions were some of the hardest I have seen at a regatta.

The basic reason is that Ocean Marina is inside a very large bay and there seems to be a variety of forces at play on the wind. Some of it driven by the large-scale weather systems, some of it driven by the heating of the land, some of it driven by clouds and every combination in between. The outcome is wind that can come from opposite directions at the same time and double and halve in strength very rapidly.

Sailing in these conditions can be very frustrating and particularly so in an event like SEA Games where pressures and expectations are high and in small fleets where points are always very close.

In spite of all this our young team (largely new to the whole environment) acquitted themselves very well and we were actually (mathematically speaking anyway) in contention for 9 titles going into the last day, although in most classes they were on equal points or 1 point between (very close).  

Having it all our own way on the final day was only going to happen in the fickle conditions if I sold my soul to the devil and ordered up some special wind only for the Singapore team. The devil and I discussed it and I even pointed out we are already carrying his code on the sail (Sin) and as such we should get better treatment from the wind.

The Devil pointed out that my team is always honest, clean, upright and sportsmanlike when they sail and the Sin on the sail was “all for show” and that he would not help such an angelic team in a million years. What a compliment!!! So we went out to battle the wind on the last day – with none of his outside assistance (as the racing rules dictate).

And yep – it was fickle. Particularly on the Laser, Radial and Super Mod course which was kind of trapped between the sea breeze and the land breeze blowing in opposite directions (woah a real lottery). Seng Leong, the ever battler, worked his way into the lead only to have the wind shut down and swing dramatically to put him in last place for the race.

Coming back on shore he was already back to high spirits and leading the support for the other sailors – the true mark of a champion.

Well two lessons for Seng Leong:

1. Never play the dice rolling games at the Integrated Resorts when they open in Singapore and
2. The devil hates you (what a compliment)  

The game this week has been mentally tough and the whole team has stayed remarkably mentally strong. They really battled hard to have themselves in contention all the way through the series.

Physically strong too. The nutrition and hydration programmed worked as they still had enough energy to run around and cheer at the medal ceremony and throw Quintin, Kelvin, Edwin and I in the water.

The mood is high - there is always joy and laughter. Jono dancing, Suzzi waving, Ivan and Chun quoting movies, Sara singing, Quintin lifting heavy stuff, Joshua teasing, Darren changing the music in the middle of the song, Roy & Siobhan and Jovina philosophizing …..and the list goes on.

Well tomorrow we return to Singapore. I think all will be very happy to be home but also a little sad that the experience is over.

It’s been a great three weeks.

Thanks for your support.

Best regards
Andrew

Read more stories on the 24th SEA Games here.