SB20 and Multihull's join the action...
By AsianYachting MultiMedia
01:02:2013 - The SB 20 keelboats and Multihull classes opened their account today with a 2-day series in front of Singapore's East coast beaches. Meanwhile the majority of the fleet in Batam, completed a windward/leeward race before embarking on a passage race down the Indonesian side of the Strait, to finish near Buffalo Rock. They then crossed the Strait at their own leisure and returned to ONE°15 Marina Club. The 16 to 18 knot trade wind piping in from the North East made for an interesting day of power sailing on both sides of border. Several blistered hands and tall stories are being told back at the bar this afternoon.

Two more bullets for Sarab Jeet Singh's Sydney 40MOD Windsikher gives them five wins in a row and wrap up the IRC A series with one day to spare. Two second places for Tan Thong Meng's Benetau First 40.7 S.Y. Endeavour keeps the team from the Marina Keppel Bay Academy in second overall. Similarly two third places for Winfrid Wong's Cork 1780 Xtra SMUve follows suite in third overall.

The battle royal continues in the IRC B class between Gordon Maxted's Young 84 Shoon Fung Too and Kurt Metzer's Oracle 338 Waka Tere. Maxted's Shoon Fung Too came off a wave to edge the bow ahead of Metzer's Waka Tere and finish three seconds in front. Although Waka Tere claimed the handicap honours, the order was reversed on the passage race and both boats finished tied on eight points with Shoon Fung Too holding onto the lead by nature of winning the last race. Simon Piff's Lavranos 34 Rainbow Dreams, has scored a string of third places to comfortably secure third overall.

The Indonesian Navy's Arjuna skippered by Januar Lukit finally broke through the barrier to claim a win by five seconds in Race 4. A bad spinnaker set may have let the navy through, but Camelia Tan's SMUve weren't going to repeat the dose and went on to win the next race to hold onto top spot in the Platu 25 class. Since their Race 1 win, Samantha Chua's SMUmad has been picking up the scraps but returned to form and gave their SMU counterparts a run for their money during the passage race only to lose out by 17 seconds for second place. Although Januar Lukit's Arjuna slipped to third they still hold onto second overall, two points behind Tan's SMUve and with two races left to run still have a chance to glorify themselves on their first outing with the locally built boat.

Another two wins for Borstnar Vladimir's Angel makes it five bullets in a row and wrap up the J24 title with a day to spare. Shengli skipper Seah Cheong Hock said "Vladimir is slightly faster on all points of sailing and just keeps edging ahead and we can't match them. Consequently second overall is the best we can achieve". Same goes for Jovina Choo's RSYC Dua and after mixing it with the trailing pack ends up in third overall.

After a discussion about PY ratings with the International jury, adjustments were made to Wang Yew Pang's Jeanneau 54 Haiyi 1 handicap, but to no avail as Wendle Wald's better sailed Jeanneau 35 Melissa lll still managed to win both races and remain undefeated in the overall stakes. Pang's Haiyi 1 did close the gap down to three seconds and score second place in the first race today but comes a little to late in proceedings. Once again Curry Keoughan Jen's Jaunt popped into second place in the second race but two third places for Simon King's Bonbrigde 215 Svanika keeps them in second overall but must regain their earlier form as Haiyi 1 is closing in.

A mixed bag of results on the first day of racing in the SB 20 class produced three different winners on the grueling five race opening rounds. With a scoreline of 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 Nils Razmilovic leads the eight boat Singapore Sailing fleet sponsored by Audi. Anthony Kiong also posted two wins to take second overall but has Yong Qiang right on his tail in third overall. With the wind strength up to 20 knots these boats are a handful even in experienced hands and many broaches were recorded on camera. There is a possibility that the "No Spinnaker" flag maybe flown tomorrow if conditions remain the same.

Five Multihull's also had a hair raising five races on a short course laid off the East coast in 20 knots of wind. Alan Hodges Corsair 750 Kaze scored five bullets to take a commanding lead on opening day. Scott Galle's Corsair 750 The Sprint was the next best inline to survive the extremely gusty conditions that may have put a fright or two tingling down the skippers spine. After a few nose dives and roundups David Stanton's M23 held on for third overall. The Multihull master Scott Mc Cook and The Dash returns to the fold tomorrow and it remains to be seen if they can make an impression on Hodges Kaze.

Tomorrow is the final day of racing and a mixture of passage and windward/leewards courses will be set along the East coast parkway. The gala prize presentation and dinner will be held in the evening at ONE°15 Marina Club to wrap up the regatta this year.

More info can be found at http://www.straitsregatta.com

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