24th SEA GAMES 2007 - PATTAYA, THAILAND

FINAL RACE DAY 6
By Dave Moxey

With the Gold medal already tied up by Thailand, the three other nations all left early to prepare for the final day of racing at these games.

Thailand also made an appearance for the first race of the day, but left the race area as soon as it had finished (putting up another first place).

Singapore had the silver medal in their sights and with the overnight 2nd placed boat, Philippines pushing to retain their placing it was bound to be hot on the start line.

We were not disappointed, Singapore and Philippines went straight at each other, in perfect match racing pre-start manouvres, you could have been at the monsoon cup the action was so intense.

Malaysia kept their nose clean (as instructed by their coach) and got a great start while Singapore and the Philippines wrangled with each other. At the first windward mark, Malaysia led, 20 seconds in front of Philippines who were 7 seconds in front of Singapore with unusually, Thailand bringing up the rear. At the leeward mark, it was almost exactly the same story, but Thailand had found their boat speed again and had closed right up on the other 3 nations.

Back up the windward leg, with Malaysia in a comfortable lead and Singapore and Philippines still dog fighting each other. About two thirds up the windward leg, it was very noticeable that Malaysia had slowed down quite dramatically, and by the top mark, they rounded in 3rd place, behind Thailand and Philippines and in front of Singapore.

Their position continued to worsen on the downwind leg, and at the finish it was Thailand 1st, Philippines 2nd, Singapore 3rd and Malaysia 4th.

When quizzed about the dramatic change in fortunes the team from Malaysia could shed no light on it, nothing had been changed on the boat or in the way they were sailing.

Then it was down to the coaches, a swift calculation of points brought the conclusion that sailing the last race of the series would make no difference to the overall standings, so race 12 was abandoned.

On returning to the marina pontoons, the Malaysian team had found that they had picked up a large piece of blue and white plastic tarpaulin when sailing on the last windward leg which caused their dramatic slow down in the final stages of the race

A disappointing end to a brilliant championship, very close racing with most of the finishes having no more than 10 – 15 seconds between first and last boat across the line.

The evening saw all competitors in their team uniforms for the medal ceremony which was held on the lawn of the spectacular Ocean Marina Yacht Club at Pattaya.

Overall points scores

1st Thailand 10 (Poonpat WIWAT, Puangnak VEERASIT, Daochanterk ANUN, Boontham SAICHON)
2nd Philippines 20 (Rafale BUITRE, Teodorico ASEJO, Richly MAGSANAY, Joel MEJARITO)
3rd Singapore 24 (Weizheng Justin TAN, Ming Ho Justin WONG, Jin Yuan Alvin CHONG, Jun Kun Wilbur CHAN)
4th Malaysia 26 (Mahadi Zazili RIZAL, Mohd Rashider SHARIFF, Fauzi MUSTAFA, Ishak JAB)

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24th SEA GAMES 2007 - PATTAYA, THAILAND

Race Day 5
By Dave Moxey

With the bronze and silver medal contenders going into todays racing on equal points, the nerves were jangling.

It was yet another wonderful light wind day for the racers, with winds below 12 knots throughout the day, and dropping below 6 knots by the end of the days racing.

Thailand had the gold medal in their sights today, two good results and they would have it done, with a day to spare, and that is exactly what they did. They completed the days sailing with two first places, securing them the Gold medal in the keelboat class at this years games.

Philippines, Gapurna Malaysia and Singapore fought hard in the dying breeze, in race 1 and 2 it was the Philippine team that got the upper hand in the squabble for 2nd place on the penultimate day, Singapore latched onto the two 3rd places taking 3rd place with Gapurna Malaysia having an off day and two 4th places.

The overnight results on the penultimate day of racing are”

Thailand 9 points Confirmed Gold medal winners
Philippines 18 points
Singapore 20 points
Malaysia 22 points

Throughout this regatta, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines have been hard to separate on the points table, and it is still the case going into the last days racing. Gapurna Malaysia have it all to do, coming from behind, but any of the 3 boats can still pick up the silver and bronze medals at tomorrow evenings medal ceremony.

Race Day 4

With 2 races scheduled today the fleet sailed from Ocean Marina in what has now become the norm – a light sea breeze.

Whilst sailing conditions have not been at their most exciting in the Gulf of Siam, weather wise, the sailors themselves have produced a remarkable regatta on the Keelboat course.

Thailand again showed their dominance in todays racing, with 2 first places, albeit having to face a jury decision on the first race of the day when they came barging in on the committee boat end of the start line much to the anger of Malaysia. The international jury adjudicated that their disjointed tack and gybe was acceptable as a penalty, and their first place held.

Singapore were not so lucky, protested by Philippines in the second race for doing a penalty turn in front of the Philippine boat between the windward and spreader marks, on the lay line to the spreader, causing Philippines to have to alter course dramatically to avoid them caused their disqualification from the second race.

At the end of day 4, Thailand have all but secured the Gold medal, needing to sail well on the 5th days racing to achieve it with a day to spare. For the remainder of the fleet, its hard to bear, but after the first discard has been deducted, all 3 boats are on 18 points with it all to do over the final 4 races.

These 4 teams have sailed exceptionally well during the regatta, often all finishing within 30 seconds of each other, and in 8 races, there has only been a gap of over 1 minute on one occasion between the first and last finishing boat.

24th SEA GAMES 2007 - PATTAYA, THAILAND

24TH SEA GAMES – RACE DAY 2
Sunday, December 09, 2007
By Dave Moxey

The promised light winds were very evident today, and the fleet were dreading that the forecast 2 – 4 knots of wind would be the order of the day.

The wind Gods in the Gulf of Siam were a little more generous, but the breeze was none the less no more than 9 knots throughout the whole sailing day.

After a really poor first day with 2 fourth places, Thailand were certainly looking to improve their positions in the Farr 25 Platu class. With Singapore and the Philipines looking to strengthen their position at the top of the leader board and Malaysia looking for that elusive first place.

Race 3 of the 12 race series got underway in around 9 knots of breeze and a choppy sea. Immediately after the start the race officer raised flag X, someone was over early, nobody turned back and the fleet continued up the windward leg in the gradually decreasing breeze. At the first mark it was the Philippines spinnaker that popped up first, followed by Singapore, Thailand and Gapurna Malaysia.

There was no change in position after the first downwind leg, and the boats started their second round, at the next windward mark, it was all change, Singapore rounded first, followed by Thailand, enjoying the lighter breeze, with Gapurna Malaysia in third and the Philippines dropping from first place to last. Down the track they came, with Thailand and the Philippines taking the right, and Singapore and Malaysia the left. At the end the right had side of the course paid off with Thailand taking first place in a tight finish with Singapore in 2nd and Malaysia and Philippines 3rd & 4th respectively.

On enquiring with the Race Officer who had been O.C.S. he mysteriously announced – O.C.S. cancelled, and no more was heard about it……………..

The breeze continued to fall, and race 4 got underway in less than 7 knots. The Race Officer had decided not to reduce the length of the course in the dieing breeze, so the fleet again started the long haul up to the windward mark. From the start, all went away cleanly. At the top of the windward leg it was Gapurna Malaysia in front a mere 9 seconds in front of Thailand with the Philippines and Singapore behind. Again Thailand and the Philippines went Right, with Singapore and Malaysia taking the more central to left hand side of the course, and again the right paid off with Thailand leading the pack into the leeward mark.. Back up the windward leg and the first incident of the regatta resulted in Singapore protesting Philippines for tacking in their water, at the windward mark it was the Philippines spinnaker that opened first, but by now the breeze was well and truly on its way out. A long sail down wind towards the finish line with the fleet in line astern, Philippines crossed first, followed by Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia bringing up the rear.

At the subsequent protest hearing after the days racing, the International jury found in favour of Singapore, who had Thailand as their witness at the hearing. The end result for the race being changed to Thailand 1st, Singapore 2nd, Malaysia 3rd and Philippines DSQ.

The overnight leader board shows a change at the top, with Singapore moving into overnight 1st place in advance of day 3’s racing.

Overall Results after Day 2

1st Singapore 8
2nd Thailand 10
3rd Malaysia 11
4th Philippines 12

SEA GAMES 2007 - PATTAYA, THAILAND

SEA GAMES, RACE DAY 1
Saturday, December 08, 2007
By Dave Moxey

DAY 1 of the 24th SEA Games competition opened at Pattaya today with the Sailing Classes all taking to the water for their first races.

In an attempt to prevent any 'technical' protests based around equipment, the 4 keelboat team managers sat with the Principal Race Officer and agreed what specific equipment should be carried by all crews, prior to the start of racing onboard the fleet of chartered boats. It was also agreed that no keelboat would be hoisted out of the water from start of racing to the end of the final race in the series.

Politics out of the way, it was time for racing. All week during practice, the wind has blown strongly from the North East, but today it lightened and by the end of the second race, conditions were very light and shifty on all 4 courses.

The Farr 25 Platu class had 2 scheduled races today, and both were completed.

Race 1 saw all 4 nations, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia & Philippines start cleanly, with Singapore and Team Gapurna Malaysia going right and Thailand and Philippines going left up the windward leg of the two round windward / leeward course. The right hand side showed more pressure with the teams who chose the right hand side leading at the windward mark. At the end of the first round a the leeward mark, Singapore led, with Gapurna Malaysia second, Philippines 3rd and Thailand 4th, with only 16 seconds seperating the yachts. Singapore tacked early choosing to go up the middle of the course with Malaysia in pursuit. Thailand split and went right with the Philippines going left. At the final windward mark it was still Singapore in the lead from Gapurna Malaysia. So into the final leg of the race, the Philippines had impressed with their downwind performance, and had soon caught up with the lead boats, putting pressure on Gapurna Malaysia for 2nd place. Singapore sailed well throughout the race and sailed through the finish in first place, the battle between Gapurna Malaysia and the Philippines eventually came out in favour of the Philippines, finishing 2nd with Gapurna Malaysia in 3rd and the host nation, Thailand in 4th place.

After a short break, the warning signal was given for race 2 or the 12 race series. Again all boats got off to a clean start, in a much lighter, and decreasing breeze. Singapore again led from the front, with good upwind and downwind boat speed, they appeared to be the team to beat. They rounded the windward mark in top spot, with Gapurna Malaysia 2nd, Philippines 3rd and Thailand 4th. Gapurna Malaysia sailed too wide at the top mark, allowing both Philippines and Thailand to round inside and sail ahead to the leeward mark. at the leeward mark it was again Singapore in front, from Philappines, Thailand and Gapurna Malaysia. In ever diminishing breeze the fleet sailed back to windward. At the windward mark, it was the pale blue spinnaker of Gapurna Malaysia that burst first. The young Malaysian team had sailed a brilliant final windward leg, moving from last at the leeward mark to first at the windward mark, with Philippines in 2nd, Singapore 3rd and Thailand 4th. The Philippines boat speed down wind was again to work in their favour, they rapidly closed the gap on Gapurna Malaysia to less than a boat length just before the line, picked up a small gust, and managed to sneak past to finish just 3 seconds in front of Gapurna Malaysia, with Singapore and Thailand finishing 3rd & 4th.

With day 1 over, the nerves steadied, the sailors all retired to the Athletes village to relax and discuss the day.

The competition runs until the 14th December.

PLATU CLASS OVERALLS AFTER 2 RACES

Place Nation Points
1st Philippines 3
2nd Singapore 4
3rd Malaysia 5
4th Thailand 8

SEA GAMES 2007 - PATTAYA, THAILAND

04 Dec 2007: Pattaya, Thailand
By Dave Moxey

TEAM GAPURNA MALAYSIA, the National Keelboat sailing team representing Malaysias interests in the Keelboat fleet (Platu Class) at the 2007 SEA Games in Pattaya had there confidence lifted today with the arrival of their specialist International Racing Coach, Niall Myant from the United Kingdom, flew into Bangkok this morning to complete their preparations for the regatta which starts on Saturday 8th December.

Niall, who put off other coaching commitments in the UK to come out to Thailand to work with the Malaysian Sailors, said he was delighted to be here and was very impressed with the improvement in the sailors skills and boat speed since he had last worked with them in July at Royal Selangor Yacht Club, Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.

The team, who have been financially supported for the games by Gapurna Group, the National Sports Council and Royal Selangor Yacht Club have high hopes of bringing home a medal from this years games, the first time that the Platu Keelboat class has been included.

Rizal Mahadi bin Sazili, skipper of the Malaysian Team said he was very pleased to have so experienced a coach come to work with them in the final stages of their preparation, he and his team have pledged to do all they can in the face of stiff competition from Thailand (gold medal favourites), Singapore and the Philippines to bring success to the Malaysian cause.

The team are members of the highly successful 'TEAM GAPURNA MALAYSIA', who have been attracting invitations from a number of overseas regattas based on their 2007 performances.

The team will continue to train at Ocean Marina Yacht Club until the start of the games regatta proper on Saturday 8th December. For further information or more photos of the team, telephone interviews (If required) can be arranged with the sailors and their coaching staff by contacting Dave Moxey (Keelboat Team Manager) on +6016 626 6224 or by emailing dave@rsyc.com.my

SEA GAMES 2007 - PATTAYA, THAILAND

02 Dec 2007: Pattaya, Thailand
By Dave Moxey

Images are from early practice sessions and a joint race training session between the Philippine, Singaporean and Malaysian Teams. Unfortunately Thailand did not participate.

All 4 nations, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, competing in the Keelboat division at this years South East Asia Games have now arrived at the Regatta venue, Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand. The host nation has provided Farr Platu 25's for the keelboat class and the teams chose their boat for the competition from the local fleet. New racing sails for the regatta have been supplied by Quantum Sails.

The Malaysian keelboat contingent, sponsored as always by the generous support of the GAPURNA GROUP, the National Sports Council and the Ministry for Youth and sports traveled to Thailand at the beginning of the week to join the dinghy contingent who had already arrived and begun their training program on the waters of the Gulf of Siam.

The team spent the first day at the venue working to prepare the boat for competition and now spend the days on the water training

28 sailors comprise the full Malaysian team, with their coaches giving technical and moral support.  The nation's sailors will compete in the Optimist, 420, 470, Super Mod and Platu sailing classes based out of Ocean Marina YC, with the windsurfers sailing out of Royal Varuna YC further down the coast.

New friends are already being made, with the different nations working together to improve performance and helping each other both on and off the water. The suggested local northerly wind pattern at this time of year are still to arrive. A mix of light to moderate breeze, from the shore in the morning and a sea breeze in the afternoon is still the most prominent with relatively flat seas, giving good training conditions on the waters of the Gulf of Siam.

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