The Hobie Boys - Jonathan Russel Chew (left) & Low Wen Chun (right)

NEAR-PERFECT.

That is how Low Wen Chun described the four days of sailing at the Dutch Youth Regatta, which ended yesterday.

Wen Chun and partner Jonathan Chew finished first in nine of 11 races, beating nine other pairs to clinch the Hobie 16 crown.

They took third place in the other two races.

This is the first win outside of Singapore for the duo since they paired up 13 months ago.

Jonathan said: 'It would have been nice to finish first in all the races.'

But the result they really want is at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in July - when they will compete in the SL16 category, which is similar to the Hobie 16.

Wen Chun said: 'The Youth World Championships event is the one that really counts. But this win is a morale booster for us.' The South-east Asia Games silver medallists, both 17, took part in the Dutch regatta as part of their preparation for the Youth World Championships in Denmark.

Still, they have benefited from their Dutch outing.

Jonathan said: 'In Singapore, it's hot and the wind is light. Here, it's totally different as it's cold with strong winds. I'm glad that we managed to adapt, because it'd be cold in Denmark too.'

Note: Singapore 29er sailors Justin Liu / Terry Tang and Griselda Khng / Cecilia Low finished credible 7th and 15th positions respectively.