Top of the Gulf Sailing Regatta

And yea, a considerable amount of time this past semester was spent on keel boat sailing, after I got selected to go Pattaya for the "Top of the Gulf" regatta.

I was very grateful to some very very nice fella SMU sailors for giving me the chance to go for a race and dedicating time and effort in getting me fit for my role as a bowman on the boat. I have to say the role requires both physical and mental strength and a great sense of awareness towards the surroundings. I guess I've picked up quite a variety of skills there.

The Pattaya waters were scarier than Raffles Marina waters (like duh..). The boat I sailed on was named Amanda and was signed up for the race-cruisers' class under keelboat category. And we got first! All the time and effort spent training with my team mates - Alvin, Jacq, Richard, Muiyi, George and Yunfeng paid off! The boat went out of control a couple of times though when we sailed downwind to the finishing line. Like who among 7 of us will ever forget how the tiller broke cos the winds were so damn strong.

The trip was really good albeit intense and the whole regatta was indeed quite a high profile one. We getta party, eat and drink and watch fireworks almost every night. And I guess what made everything more memorable is the wonderful company of 30 other fella sailing enthusiasts. Really looking forward to sailing with some of these guys again soon...