A 4hr bus ride after we landed in Guangzhou brought us through villages and places we hardly call towns. With the nearest supermarket a 40mins drive away (Shanwei’s town center) and the nearest place we can get amenities or snacks is a couple of road side convenience-stores 5mins walk away. Despite all that, the hotel’s been surprisingly good, decent rooms and internet connection!

We flew in the day before to meet up with the other half of the contingent that was already here. Went sailing for the first time here in a beautiful 18-22knots of wind with some big waves.

It’s Practice Race today and Race 1 starts tomorrow. With no internet access to many weather-sites (due to China’s infamous internet regulations), we are unable to get our hands on any forecast and everyday’s almost a guess as to what kind of winds and temperatures we’ll get.

With the ASC as the test-event for the Asian Games at the end of the year, it certainly is relieving to see more ongoing construction.

Below’s the link to an article from the Today newspaper covering our recent success

First a bronze, then a silver for Tay and Koh

As it turned out, sailing was a roller coaster of events. On our own budget, without a coach, we rocked up the day before the regatta and hoped to have our 6 year old charter boat working ok. After a short sail at 5pm, we were dismayed to find out the gasket had fallen out which meant at least 2 hours of repair. Not to be discouraged on a trip with no support team at all, we opted for before-the-first-race repair. So Roy and I headed to the club nice and early the next morning to fix our race craft.

The first day’s racing was mixed and saw us in second spot. However, a super light and insane second day race surprised even ourselves as we finished the only race of the day more than 5 minutes ahead of the next boat and pushing us up the leader board to gain pole position. A pitiful third day with more downs than ups lost us our lead and slip to second. The last day of racing was smooth sailing as we managed to increase our point differences between the boat behind us and catch up with the leaders. However, the penultimate race which carries double points was not enough for us to overhaul the eventual winners despite us winning the race. In hindsight, the third day of racing lost us the regatta. We lacked the consistency when needed and it cost us. However, if anything, this experience will go a long way, having taught us what is required to stick our elbows out that inch more to win it.

All in all, we had a great outing in Auckland and felt the money was well spent! Thanks for supporting us… SQ… =p

TeRence

Carrying the yellow sticker off the start.

Going around the top mark.

Top mark rounding

Photos courtesy of Snow-Hansen

Prize Presentation

Day 2 comprised of really light winds and shifty conditions. With lots of cloud cover denying the entrance of the sea breeze and a big high pressure sitting over New Zealand, we waited on shore for almost 4 hours before being sent out to the race area and the dominantly light and shifty condition resulted in only one race for the day.

Here’s Day 2’s official media release from the event organizer:

http://www.sailauckland.org.nz/news/media-release-day-two-extreme-light-airs-racing/

It’s been 3 hours of AP on shore while we wait for the breeze to fill in. A stark contrast to yesterday’s conditions while we all play the waiting game.
Yesterday, day 1 of the Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland regatta saw an oscillating breeze of 9-15 knots with clouds low-moving clouds pulling the wind beyond it’s oscillations. Shifty and gusty conditions made racing interesting opening up plenty of opportunities for everyone with plenty of shuffling in positions throughout each race.
A mixture of good and bad calls and some disqualifications for our opponents saw us finish the day 2nd on the leaderboard.
With 7 more races scheduled, we can’t wait to get out on the water and get more races in as afterall, we’re here to get more race-experience and brush up our race-craft.

We have all gone down paths in our lives in pursuit of something. And many a times we have met obstacles n stumbling blocks. We know it’s these lessons, some big some small, that adds to life’s experience. It’s these lessons and hardships that make the outcome sweeter and more meaningful. It’s always easier to think back on hindsight but we all know that it’s at the moment where we hit the brick wall that is the hardest. Some give up upon the impact, the wall that came up in front of them blocking the view of their goals. Some take a step back n go down another path, forsaking the current goals for others they dream up. Others pick themselves up and go at it again, this time trying a different way to get across to the other side ofnthe wall.

There are many reasons why some succeed in getting to their goals and others fall short. Some giving up the pursuit of their dreams while others just change their focus.

It is not for me to judge what success is for that varies with everyone. And it’s not fair that one be judged on whether they achieved their final goal or not, for we do not know of the precious lessons life taught them while on their journey. But I’m here to share a little trick that I feel is so impactful that it can be life-changing. A skill that a lot of people know and everyone would have heard of. A skill that is so underestimated that many don’t apply it. Some do at an unconscious level but has never consciously set about it.

What I’m talking about is the simple motion of Goal Setting.

Most successful people if not all do it. Some unconsciously, some make it a routine. Have you ever set about doing something and after some time lost focus and/or lost sight of what you’ve set out to do? This is where setting goals help you regain focus and let you remember what you’ve set out for and keeps you from being blindsided. If you’ve never set goals before, there’s no better time than NOW. Whats more, it’s just the beginning of a great year!

Whether it’s a sporting goal, a life goal, relationship goal, or your new year’s resolution, no goal is too small to aim for. So take that pen and paper out, get yourself some solitude and privacy, and start thinking about things you want to achieve this lifetime. It could be one, two or even a page full. Picture yourself 1 year down the road, what do you want to have achieved, 2 years down the road, then 5 years. The person you see yourself to be 5 years down the road. What have you done? Have you become the national champion, or even the world champion that you’ve set out to be? Have you started that family that you’ve dreamt of? What about becoming the millionaire you’ve always thought of? Starting the business you’ve dreamt of? All these are big goals. But they’re not lofty goals the moment it’s been inked. So make that first step and pen them down. But here’s the trick, you do not just have these goals. These BIG goals always seem far away in the distance. Might even seem lofty or daunting at this point. But the key is to then set smaller goals. Goals that are achievable in a shorter time frame, goals that bring you closer to the big one.

Goal setting is very much an art that can be discussed all day with so many various school of thought. None’s right or wrong. It’s about starting the process. They say the first step’s always the hardest. Not for goal setting. In my opinion, the first step in goal setting is the most exciting part. For it removes the limits that you unconsciously set for yourself and let you dream, allowing you to envision yourself being happy and succesful in the years to come. So, get that pen an paper out and start jotting it all down. Start picturing yourself the way you want to be in the years to come. Place yourself 5 years down the road and feel the joy that you possess for having lived the life you want. Feel the pride of having achieved what you’ve set out to achieve.

As for the finer details of the art, i’l leave it for another article for fear this long post would deter you from starting on your journey to success. Have fun dreaming!

We finally moved! Very lucky to have found a great apartment that costs slightly less and much bigger. Not as near to the sailing club but that would just mean a good bike ride to and fro.

It has been a packed week for us. Apart from our usual physical training and sailing, the rest of the time was spent sending in numerous rental applications, viewing more houses, sorting out the paperwork for the new place, moving out of the old place and into the new. In order to cut cost, we decided not to hire a mover and a cleaner, thus we rented a truck and did all the moving ourselves with the help of our manager, Peter. All these happening while we made a last minute decision to enter into the Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland Regatta which takes place in the first week of February. It will be a fly-in-fly-out event for us with a charter boat but we decided that the racing experience will only do us good.

Ironically, the regatta is sponsored by our national airline but we never ever got any sponsorship nor even flight subsidies from our own national carrier. Wouldn’t it be a great thing to travel to various venues on our national carrier to compete and keep our national flag flying high?!

Imagine the national pride of letting others know that Singapore Airlines, our national airline, is the airline that flies our dreams!

Anyone out there hearing me? Any kind samaritans that can help start the link?

Glad to be back in Sydney. Weary after the 10-hr drive, we opened our door to a notice by the landlord: We have to move out by the end of the month as they sold our whole building. What a great greeting… Although we were already thinking about moving out due to rental increment, we now have a date-line to follow. And because we were in Sorento racing, we have only 2 weeks+ to find a place.

Viewing of rental apartments happens mainly on Saturdays in Sydney. With the occasional inspection available on Wednesdays, Saturdays are a full-on programme, back-to-back inspections for a decent roof over our head. Apparently, the rental scene in Sydney is very competitive and we were very lucky the last time when the first application we sent out got through and we got the place we want. Fingers crossed for this time round.

Hi all, the Australian 470 Nationals finished yesterday (one day before schedule) and we’ve won our first medal since we paired up. Despite me still weak and recovering from swine flu, we finished 3rd in a fleet of 18 boats beating a few of the boats that we lost to a month ago at Sail Sydney and Sail Melbourne.

With trying conditions for the race committee, it meant several days of 3 races (which is the maximum number of races allowed in the sailing instructions) to try and get ahead of the racing schedule before the weather turns against us. It also meant a lot of waiting on shore with the AP flag up while we wait for the wind to fill in. Despite the weather being difficult, the efficient race-committee even made it possible to finish one day earlier.

We started the regatta on a back foot finishing 9th in the first race due to a bad start and some major mistakes but finished day one on a better note with a 5th and 3rd in the following races making it a mixed day of results.

We only had 1 race squeezed in on the second day before the light Northerly faded out and we made the day count with 3rd place finish. After several hours of waiting onshore on day three, a beautiful 12-16 knots of sea breeze filled in early afternoon allowing for great sailing conditions. A mixed result on the third day again saw us see-sawing up and down the overall standings and going into the fourth (& last day) in 4th position, with the 3rd and 5th boat extremely close in points. A solid 3-2-3 finish in the crucial three races respectively of the last day gave us the jump we needed in points to grab the bronze on the final day.

Prize presentation

Sails up proudly displaying our sponsors Oakley & ConstantWind.

Packing the boats into the container in 45 degree celsius!

And the best way to finish the trip is of course to pack the boats into the container on a scorching 45 degree celsius day with the sun blazing.

Now, it’s back to Sydney where we resume our training and work on our weaknesses while we march on towards our goals.

We’d like to thank ConstantWind for sponsoring us with great sailing gear for this season and to our long-time sponsor Oakley for the amazing sunnies that not just shield us from the sun rays but also let us see clearer on water.

Roy

We’re back in Melbourne for the Australian 470 Nationals that starts on the 7th Jan. It was an uneventful 12-hour drive from Sydney to Sorento via Melbourne in our rental ute where we picked up our 470 at Ronstan before heading to our accommodation in Rye (10km from Sorento).

Having contracted swine flu over christmas when i was back in Singapore has certainly left me weaker physically and i can still feel the remnants of the virus’ wrath and the congestion it has caused in my lungs at this point in time. With the fever gone, it is now time to get the body back in shape and back into the sun.

Roy