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FOCUS, relax and stay cool. Following that golden advice from their coach, Jovin Tan and Desiree Lim yesterday posted a strong finish at the IFDS Two-Person Keelboat World Championship to claim Singapore's first disabled sailing world crown. At Changi's SAF Yacht Club, the duo clawed back from third overnight to beat seven other Skud 18 boats to take one of the last five qualifying spots to September's Beijing Paralympics. Favourable conditions enabled the 11-race regatta to finish a day ahead of the scheduled five days. 'It was very tense on the water today as there was a strong fight for first place,' said Tan, 21, who has cerebral palsy. He and his crew member, polio victim Lim, 49, had led the regatta after the opening day. Technical problems with their sail on the next two days saw them dropping back five points to overnight leaders China. But the pair finished second, first and third in yesterday's final three races to overhaul the Chinese, who could only manage a 9-4-1 finish. Portugal were third. Tan, who works in Alexandra Hospital's call centre, said: 'We listened to instructions from our coach, former national sailor Lock Hong Kit. 'He told us to just focus, relax and be cool, and not be distracted by what our opponents were doing. 'Just sail free.' The advice worked a treat. Beijing will be the duo's second Paralympics after Athens in 2004. But this year's Games will be sweeter as it is the first time they have qualified on merit, instead of on a wild card. The Skud 18 class will be making its Paralympic debut, after being selected in 2005 as the boat for the two-person event in Beijing. The Singaporeans had been practising on the boat for only nine months. The regatta was their second competitive outing on the boat, after January's Sail Melbourne in Australia. Come September, Tan will be hoping to improve on his Athens showing. Then, he was skipper of the three-man crew which finished 15th among 16 boats in the Sonar team event. 'I'm aiming for a medal - any colour,' he said with confidence. Lim, an accountant, was last in the 2.4MR single-person keelboat event. The pair join swimmer Theresa Goh and wheelchair racer Mohamed Firdaus, who have also qualified for the Beijing Paralympics.
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