SIM 33rd Singapore Open Asian Windsurfing Championship - Day 2
by Chua Hsin Ee 24 Jan 2014 21:58 GMT
23-26 January 2014
Hong Kong performing strongly in all areas
The prevailing north-east wind continued to blow on Day 2 of the SIM 33rd Singapore Open Asian Championship with constant winds of 15 knots gusting up to 18 knots as early as 10.30am. The race officials wasted no time in getting the races going.
Race 4 of in Techno Youth Boys division started just past 11am in a steady breeze. The winds then picked up steadily, averaging at 17 knots and gusting up to 25 knots with competitors getting off to a flying start in Race 5 & 6.
There were hardly any changes to the Techno Boy's divisions with the 3rd and 4th placed competitors swopping places. Singapore's Wallace Gan put in a commendable performance and is currently lying in 10th position out of a fleet of 26 after claiming a third spot in Race 4.
In the Techno Girl's division, it is a close fight between Thailand's Phongern Duangkamon and Hong Kong's Choi Wing Chi who are both tied at 7 points with each taking 3 bullets after 6 races.
In the RS:X Men's division, Thailand's Ek Boonsawad sits comfortably at the top of the leaderboard with 3 straight wins today. Ek is currently six points ahead of Taipei's Chang Hao who has moved up to 2nd position after six races while Singapore's Leonard Ong fell to 3rd position. However, the fight between Leonard and Hao will be one to watch out for in the coming days with just one point separating the two.
Over in the RS:X Women's division, Hong Kong proved to be a tough fight with the top 3 positions firmly occupied by the Hong Kong women windsurfers.
Hong Kong is also currently dominating the leaderboard in the Mistral One Design Open division but Thailand's Natthaphong Phonoppharat is putting up a good fight with two second-placed finishes and is proving to be third-placed Ma Yik Kau's closest threat.
Racing continues on Day 3 of the event with the first possible race at 11am and the start of races in the Formula and Raceboard classes. The 5th edition of the SIM Windsurfing Championship which sees novice windsurfers from the local tertiary institutions, National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), Singapore Management University (SMU) compete for top honours will also kick off tomorrow.