The fleet in Singapore had everything thrown at them today as they contended with an intense 15 minute rainstorm, wind that peaked at 12 knots and then they were left crawling around the racecourse as the wind dropped to just 1.2 knots. But still the boats raced on, battling it out for the top spot.
Consistency paid off today for event leaders Masirah as they extended their lead at the top of the board by 10 points over second place Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team. But hot on their heels is China Team, with local Singaporean sailor Tan Wearn Haw onboard, trailing by just 1 point.
Nick Moloney, Skipper of BT commented, “Crazy conditions today, wind all over the place, big squall through the course half way through the first race, massive shift in wind direction a couple of times, I lost my hat – everything!”
The testing conditions challenged the race committee as the wind swung wildly across the race course, but five races were completed with fifth man VIP guests racing in the heart of the action onboard the 40 foot catamarans.
Callum Laing, Chairman of the Sawadee.com Regatta Samui raced onboard Rumbo Almeria. “It is absolutely fantastic, brilliant. I think it puts a lot of other hospitality experiences to shame because you are so in the middle of what is happening, it is hard to imagine any other sport being able to offer that sort of experience, it was incredible.”
Racing onboard Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team as the fifth man guest was Hafiz Koh, 22 years old, the youngest driver for the Singapore A1GP team. “That was totally amazing. I'm going to change from motorsports to sailing!” he laughed.
Koh (pictured below) was racing alongside David Vera, racing in his first ever multihull event. “It is the first time I've sailed these boats and it was funny, very funny. Each day I enjoy it more because I'm learning more each day. I've never raced a catamaran before, I'm used to just sailing big boats, I've only experienced them when I've chartered them as a tourist, these ones are very, very nice.
“This sailing is so different from the normal type of sailing I do around the world, it's totally different. It's like doing a marathon and then doing the 100 metres; it goes so quickly and very fast and a totally different concept of sailing. I'm enjoying it a lot.”
Pete Cumming and his team onboard Masirah finished top of the leaderboard after day 3: “Another really solid day, really different conditions. Full monsoon downpour so the clouds pulling the wind all over the palce. We went out knowing we had to be consistent. Five races and all top threes, but we are being pushed a lot harder, these guys are chipping away at us….”
The penultimate day of racing commences tomorrow, Monday 14 December from 2pm.
Provisional results after 3 days of Racing:
1. Oman Sail Masirah: 70
2. Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team: 60
3. China Team: 59
4. BT: 57
5. The Wave, Muscat: 53
6. Rumbo Almeria: 38
