By Benedict Teo/Red Sports

BernieChin-LaserRadial

Youth Olympic Gold medalist Bernie Chin roll-tacking to sideboard. He convincingly won the Laser Radial category with 17 points. (Photo 1 © Benedict Teo/Red Sports)

National Sailing Centre, Wednesday-Saturday, March 18-21, 2015 — Youth Olympic gold medalist Bernie Chin convincingly won the Laser Radial category with a total of 17 points over 10 races and a medal race at the 2015 Fish & Co National Youth Sailing Championships.

Bernie’s lead was so large that he sealed his victory prior to sailing the medal race. Having won both nomination events for the upcoming SEA Games, Bernie will be awaiting approval from the Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) and Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) for the golden ticket to the games.

Lu Junrui and Justin Chew trailed behind with 47 and 53 points respectively, securing them the silver and bronze medals.

In the Fish & Co National Youth Championships, sailors and windsurfers from the Optimist, Byte, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, Laser Standard, 420, RS:X, and Techno 293 categories completed nine to 11 races over four days. However, the top 10 contenders of each category sailed one less race, and an additional medal race instead.

Over the course of the regatta, the sailors faced an interesting mix of wind and current conditions, which favoured the sailors’ skill over their physique. The regatta is also one of two regattas which serve as a nomination event for the upcoming SEA Games in June 2015. Sailors vying for a chance to represent Singapore competed to prove their worth, making the atmosphere tense and electric.

Since more than four races were held, each sailor and windsurfer was allowed to discard one of their races (sailors need not include the points for their worst race into their total points; only the points for their best 10 of 11 races are added). Thus, the sailors are only given one get-out-of-jail-free card.

Veteran sailors Loh Jia Yi and Matthew Lau accrued 20 points and won the 420 title. Loh Jia Yi, who won the ISAF Youth Sailing Championship in 2014 with crew Jonathan Yeo, recently shook hands with Matthew Lau to form a dynamic duo. Both helm and crew were national Optimist sailors since young, and have since moved on to bigger boats, collecting numerous nautical achievements along the way.

Their partnership began in October 2014. Jia Yi commented, “I think the most different part about sailing with another crew is to understand the communication between each other. It takes time to understand what your partner has in mind. Given our Optimist background, it was not hard to communicate about tactics while racing, but more of technique that was harder to grasp instead.”

Elisa Yokoyama and Samantha Neubronner tailed closely behind with 28 points to finish in second place, and Ryan Teo and Christopher Ang finished third with 40 points.

Ivo Todorov from the Laser Standard category won convincingly with 14 points. He managed to win the championship even after messing up the medal race, missing the finish line, and finishing last. Hugo Ngoc and Ahmad Danial Umar trailed behind with 19 and 26 points respectively.

In the Laser 4.7 category, Koh Yi Kun won decisively with 27 points. The pack consisting of Asmawi Azman, Jedi Ang, and Chua Wen Hsi battled it out in the medal race, and they finished with 44, 46, and 48 points respectively. In the end, Koh Yi Kun was awarded the gold medal, Asmawi the silver medal, and Jedi Ang the bronze medal.

Samuel Neo was another sailor who won the event prior to the medal race. He finished with 30 points in the Byte category and secured himself the gold medal position. Winston Yeo and Jordan Tan accrued 56 and 70 points respectively, bagging themselves the silver and bronze medals.

Muhammad Daniel won the Optimist Gold fleet with a total of 27 points. In the end, Raynn Kwok had to settle with the silver medal with 39 points, and Daniel Hung brought home to bronze medal with 45 points.

In the Optimist Silver fleet, Nadine Sng emerged victorious with a net total of 45 points. She was closely tailed by silver-medalist Morris Madlos with 47 points, and bronze medalist Thea Haugan with 53 points.

It was a one-sided affair in the Techno 293 category. Illham Bin Wahab dominated the event, winning every race, and garnering 12 points. Reynold Chan won the silver medal with 24 points, and Fung Tsun Hin won the bronze medal with 36 points.

In the RS:X category, Ahmad Danish finished first with 17 points to bring home the gold. Izzaz Mohammad and Ynez Lim trailed behind with 31 and 33 points respectively, earning themselves the silver and bronze medals.

Full race results can be found here

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