Mr NG Ser Miang, Patron of the Singapore Sailing Federation and one of the key persons in the development of the Optimist Class in Singapore, awards the trophy to Kimberly Lim, new Asian Champion 2011

Happy Birthay IODA Asians!!

The Championship has come of age!! The 21st edition of the Championship was celebrated with a birthday cake and a toast. Coming of age in Singapore is a very important stage in a person's life and is usually celebrated with big parties and major enthusiasm. In this case there were more than one reasons to celebrate, because that first IODA Asian Championsip 21 years ago was organised in Singapore, and the team champions were... Singapore. Three of its members had been especially invited to the ceremony and were paid homage to. Among them is the present CEO of the Singapore Sailing Federation, Wearn Haw Tan.

Thailand: Asian Team Race Champions 2011

   
Photo of the first winning team (left) and Members of the team were invited on stage. In the middle of the three, the CEO of SingaporeSailing

Back to shore on the last day

The wind didn't abandon the sailors today and allowed the fleet to enjoy a steady breeze of 10 knots from the South West.

After yesterday's races there was not a clear winner, both Mattew Scott and Kimberly Lim from Singapore had chances to grab the title. Today however, it was Kimberly who took control of the fleet since the very first race, ensuring her victory with a bullet, a second and a seventh. Matthew had had a bad first race but he didn't give up and an 8th and a 3rd in the other two, combined with the second discard, allowed him to finish as runner up. Elisa Yokoyama finished third overall, completing an all Singapore podio. Congratulations Singapore!!

On arriving back to shore Kimberly is greeted by her team mates

Matthew Scott, second overall

Thailand's Sarawut Phetsiri climbed in the positions after the spare day and finished 4th overall, while Ahmad Syukri Bin Abd Aziz from Malaysia was the other non-Singapore sailor who had a place in the top ten. Non Asian countries had Leonardo Lombardi from Brazil in 12th overall.

| Final Results |

Good wind early in the morning that allowed for the start of the races on time and according to schedule

The day treated the sailors and race officials with a wonderful breeze that reached 16 knots, and by 1500 all three races were finished.

Matthew Scott from Singapore consolidated his lead and is now 12 points ahead of fellow sailor Ryan Lo Jun Han. With a second discard becoming effective tomorrow it is still unclear if Matthew is a sure winner. Ryan and Kimberly Lim (last year's Champion) will benefit significantly once that second discard is applied and a mistake could mean losing the victory for Matthew.

Haven't had the chance to view the races? Watch the replays on the tracking page!!

| Results |

No sooner had the sailors launched their boats then it started pouring with rain and the wind dropped to nothing. The matches, originally scheduled to start at 11am, had to be postponed until 1300. Luckily the wind didn't die in the afternoon and all the scheduled races were completed, including the round robin for the four teams registered for the Nations Cup.

Thailand had qualified in third place and their first match was against team 14, Chinese Taipei. After winning that race they moved on to race 23, which they won against Singapore 3, arriving at the finals undefeated. Meanwhile Singapore 1 had a similar performance in flights 1 and 2 but on arriving at flight 3 they were defeated by....... their fellow team Singapore 3!! Notwithstanding that first setback, they won all the subsequent races and moved to the finals.

Thailand won the first match but Singapore wouldn't let them win the Championship so easily and took victory on the second race. In the end, and after a match full of adrenaline, Thailand won the race and became the Asian Team Race Champions.

| View the complete grid | Tracking of the races | Team members |

In the Nations Cup it was USA who became the Nations Cup Champions after winning the finals against NZL 1. Both teams advanced to the finals after the first round robin, in which USA had won 2 out of the three races and New Zealand one race.

The action continues tomorrow with one of the most popular racing formats: the team races. As said by the Chief Umpire Peter Johnson during the coaches meeting this evening, team race is a way of gaining a sound knowledge of the rules, it encourages team work and, best of all, it is fun!! ... not only for the sailors but also for the parents and supporters, because the races are usually sailed very close to shore so that fans can join the fun too.

The selection and ranking of the teams are done according to the points of the sailors in the first five races of the individual series, as stated in the Notice of Race. In these case, the teams and their positions in the ranking are as follows:

The members of each team will be announced tomorrow.

Click here to download the calculations of the team points.

Download the grid

The gray morning gradually gave way to a sunny afternoon and even when the wind had dropped a little compared to yesterday's, the three races of the day were successfully completed. The leader of the fleet is Matthew Scott Lau Wen Jiang, who had an OCS in the first race of the event but climbed up in the ranking after the first discard came into effect. Elisa had two bad races and is now in fourth position. Pongsapat Poomyam from Thailand is the first foreign sailor, in fifth place, and Henry Marshall from the US is the first non Asian sailor, in 13th overall.

Happy Matthew Scott accompanied by Pei Ming, Regatta Director of the event

The individual races will continue on the 28th, after the team races tomorrow and the spare day on the 27th ('spare' day provided the sailing conditions allow for the completion of the +45 matches on the 26th)

| Results |

There are 16 teams qualified for the Asian Team Racing and 4 for the Nations Cup (parallel championship for countries from outside of Asia). We will post the qualification asap.

The variety of skills involved in being a team leader are increasing every day!! :) Apart from the required knowledge about racing rules, event organisation, English as a foreign language, headaches, stomachaches, injuries, and a long etc; today you have to be an expert in the art of writing!!

Social networking have become a part of the everyday activities when you are in charge of a team at an event. If you have doubts, have a look at the blogs of some of the delegations participating in the Asians!!

• NZL Opti Asian Team 2011
• Japan Opti Asian Team
• Team USA
• Hong Kong

The lack of wind forced the RC to display AP at 1100, scheduled time for the first race of the day, but it was not long after the postponement that the wind showed up, allowing the fleet to start at 1125. However, the breeze didn't last as expected and sailors were sent back to shore after the end of the first race to wait for a steadier breeze. The wind picked up as the hours passed and in the end two more races were completed in 10 knots of wind.

The star of the day was Elisa Yukie Yokoyama from Singapore, who after three bullets is already leading the fleet with an advantage of 7 points. Elisa had won the Singapore Nationals in June and was second in the Dutch Youth Regatta in May. Singapore have 9 sailors in the top ten, only interrupted by Thailand's Chaninat Poonsirikut in 5th place. However, it is too early for an accurate forecast yet, especially considering the number of point-ties among the first 20 sailors.

Tracking of the races was successfully run and team leaders and parents enjoyed viewing the races comfortably seated on the terrace :)

We must congratulate May Ling, the scorekeeper, for the prompt publication of the results, which were posted on the Notice Board shortly after the first sailors came back from the races

| Results | Tracking |

The sailors enjoyed a breeze of 8 to 10 knots during the practice races sailed today, raising the expectations about the weather for the races tomorrow, the first three of the event. After the races, sailors were invited to a 'sailing fiesta', an informal activity to promote the friendship and familiarity among the participants from so many different cultures.

In the evening, the Opening Ceremony started at 6:30 with the display of the flags of participating countries. Dr Benedict Tan, president of the Singapore Sailing Federation, gave a warm welcome to all the sailors and officials, reminding everybody of the first IODA Asians 21 years ago, also in Singapore.

The flags of the 20 countries that are participating: Australia, Brazil, China, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and USA and India.

Team New Zealand and a great performance of the traditional Haka :)

Team India with Ajay Balram (Chairman of the Jury) and Benedict Tan

Team Iran (one sailor) and Team Japan with Wataru Arakawa (IODA measurer)

Tropical rain greeted the sailors that arrived in Singapore this morning. The weather had been exceptionally good for the last week, windy and sunny. Yesterday however, the wind died and today the sailing conditions varied as the day progressed, interrupted by heavy rain at midday. Spirits and expectations are high though no matter the weather, as more teams arrive and set sails, training hard to get the most of their early arrival.

The Japanese girls are ready to take victory

Measurement commenced yesterday morning and it is expected to finish tomorrow, before an 'on-shore-sports' afternoon the organisers have prepared to encourage the friendship among participants.

The maximum number of sailors per country have been increased after the meetings in Malaysia during last year's Worlds and India, Japan, Hong Kong and New Zealand are entering full 10-sailor teams. The hosts have the right to enter twice as many sailors and it is nice to see so many new faces in the Singapore team. Worth mentioning are the entries of Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar with two sailors each and Iran with one. Sri Lanka, hosts of next year's Asian Championship, are represented by four sailors

More photos...

July is usually a month with lots of Opti-action and this year is no exception. The North American and European Championships have just finished and we only have a couple of weeks to get ready for the next event, the Asians in Singapore. Starting on the 22nd, this edition of the event will gather 118 sailors from 20 countries and 5 continents, a larger number than usual for this Continental Championship. (The previous largest edition was in 2009, when the host were the organisers of the following year's Worlds)

The fleet during last year's Singapore National Championship

Sailing in Asia has been growing steadily for the past ten years, not only in the number of sailors but also in their level of skill. Proof of that was the Worlds in Malaysia, when 8 sailors in the top-ten were Asian - no wonder that sailors from all around the world want to test their skills in this regatta.

We are planning to offer tracking of the races. Please visit this 'Mini Site' soon for more information.

• List of entries
• Last year's results