By Dawn Liu
Sailing's practice race, held a day before the actual event,
turned out to be an accurate dress rehearsal in all aspects -
including the race postponement part! The wind seemed to be having
a good laugh at us as it blew in at almost exactly the same time
from the start as it did for the practice race.
Racing managed to kick off smoothly on both courses, however.
The Bic Technos on course Bravo put in two races, while on course
Alpha, a third race was squeezed in, bringing both Byte CII fleets
a race ahead of schedule.
Windsurfing Boys
It's been a very consistent day across the fleet for the Bic
Techno boys. Wei Bipeng of China pulled off two bullets, putting
him at the top of the charts, two points ahead of Korea's Kim
Chaneui, who with seconds in both races is number two overall.
Wei's aim for the regatta was to finish in the top 3. While it
is still early in the regatta to determine anything with certainty,
he is still a step closer to his goal!
Down the rest of the fleet, Kwok Tsz Him from Hong Kong finished
the day third and Vantana Nakaret of Thailand fourth. Both were
third and fourth respectively in both races.
Singapore's Chuah Jun Ler finished sixth, tied on points with
Shasha Krishna Murti of Indonesia and Kuramochi Daiya of Japan.
Windsurfing Girls
In the Bic Techno girls fleet, there was intense competition
between Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam of Thailand and China's Hao Xiumei
for the top spot. With a first and a second each, both are
currently tied on points. China started with a first, but Thailand
had her number in the second, closing down on her competitor once
in the lead to ensure China stayed well behind.
Man Ka Kei of Hong Kong finished third in both races, and
Singapore's Audrey Yong came in a consistent fourth. Singapore's
windsurfing coach, Chua Tan-Ching, remains optimistic, however.
"We're getting closer to the rest of the competition, which is the
main thing!" he said. Singapore's windsurfers are still relatively
new to the class, having only made the switch from dinghy to board
sailing late last year.
Byte Boys
It was a good day for Darren Choy of Singapore, who managed to
pull off not one but three wins with a sizeable lead in each one.
"Excellent!" commented a jubilant Serena Wong, sailing team manager
for sailing. "A great start to the regatta!"
Choy's performance today gives him a solid 5-point lead over
second-placed Thailand. Supakon Pongwicheat actually rounded the
top mark first in the last race, but a difficult second work
relegated the Thai to fourth, bringing his scores to 2, 2, and 4.
In third place is Lu Tianhong from China at 12 points.
Byte coach for Singapore, Mark Plummer, is understandably
pleased. "Darren has a good day, and Najwa sailed well. It's early
days, though," he cautioned.
Byte Girls
Najwa Jumali kicked off the regatta well with a win in the first
race for the Byte girls fleet. Singapore's representative kept her
cool despite a freak gust and waterspout caused by a passing
aeroplane halfway up the first leg. While the sudden change in wind
pressure and direction capsized many sailors, Jumali managed to
overcome the challenge and emerge well ahead at the top mark.
It was Jittiwa Thanawitwilat who won the day, however, with her
consistency. Two seconds and a first were enough for the Thai girl
to place first overall with 5 points. Thanawitwilat is also no
stranger to the conditions in Singapore. "I came to Singapore to
race once a year for three years," she said.
Second overall went to Gu Min of China, whose progressively
improving scores brought her to 6 points by the end of the day.
It has been an exciting first day of racing. Races 3 and 4 for
the windsurfers and 4 and 5 for the Bytes are scheduled for
tomorrow, the first of July. Be sure to catch the action direct
from the live blog!
The action will be covered via live blogging on http://www.ayg2009.sg/page/Sailing/0,,12804,00.html
(You may read the race blogs for race 1 & 2
here.)
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