Sentosa Optimist Open Championship in Singapore - Day 2

Optimist-specific hiking machines used for training in Singapore © Singapore Sailing

A bright and sunny morning, sailors started rigging up as early as 8 30 am, getting ready to make some splash! Unfortunately, the thermal effects caused by the temperature of the land didn’t really help bring the winds in. The race committee decided to fly the AP flag (postponement of all races) and here we are again, waiting for the wind…

Our luck today wasn’t any better when the light breeze that we had in the early morning disappointed us once again.

Though the battle was not fought out at sea, it was brought to the gym! Perspiration and pressure filled the entire room as the Singapore National Sailors, together with the Australian, Greek, New Zealand and Thai sailors took up the challenge of competing with each other for a brand new Olympic sail, courtesy of the Singapore Optimist coach, Fernando Alegre.

First up was hiking for approximately two minutes. The sailors were made to hike out from 20 new hiking machines specially designed for Optimist sailors. Attached to the machine was their very own mainsheet, so as to simulate on-water hiking in strong winds. Included were actions like bailing out “water”.

The four remaining competitors, consisting of two girls (Rachel Lim and Kimberly Lim) and two boys (Tan Jen-E and Alexander K) after the knock-out rounds of hiking, fought it out on the chin-up bar. Unfortunately, the girls got eliminated from the competition, leaving the two boys for the showdown!

After some internal discussions with the international coaches present, it was decided that they hiked their hearts out back on the hiking machine. After lasting an intense and back breaking four minutes, both of them failed to back down as they pushed themselves on, with everyone spurring them on, which now included parents and fellow senior sailors that were attracted to the buzz. They seemed like they were about to go on forever, until Fernando decided to move them back to the chin-up bar to pick the new owner of the sail.

Both Jen-E and Alexander gladly hopped back on to the chin up bar. However, it was slightly different this time round, as the call was by Fernando. After completing seven chin ups, the champion was based on who could hold their chin up position the longest.

After what seemed forever, Alexander emerged the winner when Jen-E lost grip. Refreshing waves of applause took over the tense atmosphere as everyone congratulated Alexander, surely one of the fittest Optimist sailors at the Sentosa Optimist Open Championship!

This brings us to the end of the second day of the competition and everyone out there please pray for stronger winds tomorrow so that we can catch some action on water!