My first Ambassador's Cup ever!

The little adventure started on Saturday when we attempted to deliver the boat from Raffles Marina all the way to CSC in a day. Some people said we were crazy, some said we were mad. Others said we'll be sailing into the night, and tried to scare us by telling us we'll be sailing against the current the whole way.

Well, we made in it 9 and a half hours at 5.30pm. We started off at 7am, and sailed into a storm which drenched us for an hour. We then baked in the sun for the next 8 hours.

On Sunday, we had the privilege of hosting the 1st Secretary to the American Ambassador, Mr Eric Derrickson. He just picked up sailing, and we thought he'd be a good fit on the mainsail. We did pretty well and placed 3rd in Division 2.

The reception and dinner was one of the best we've ever had. Free-flow of beer from Brewerkz, cocktails, fantastic wine accompanied a buffet spread of more than 15 dishes.

We are planning to make this an Alumni event, since the delivery would be a great chance to train the juniors and freshies. All hands in favour say AYE!

After 2 years, the SMU Sailing Club returns to Oceam Marina Yacht Club to take part in the Top of the Gulf Regatta. This time, we almost doubled the team with 22 of us taking part in the Cruising Class (Amanda & Ericson39) and the Platu Class (102 &110).

The sailing was great, with a very competitive fleet of 14 Platus charging for the small start-line. The first day saw a few DSQs and RTDs, and the protest committee was kept busy throughout the regatta.

We finally brought in the the results, with Amanda (all-girls team) coming in Champions in the cruising class, and Platu 102 clinching the Platu Division 1 Champion trophy. Till now, we don't really know how we won the Platu Div 1... At least the Sailing Club will definitely get its funding next year!

We had a wild time at all the parties, not forgetting the final night in Bangkok... One of the best parties I've ever had!

Thanks guys, for the great 10 days, and I hope everyone brought back something and help the others become better sailors. The Season is just getting started!

This time, 6 reckless sailors from the Singapore Management University skipped 1 week of lessons, mid-term exams, and fun-filled project meetings to represent SMU and Singapore in the Royal Langkawi International Regatta.

As invited guests participating in the Sports Boat and Under-25 category, we were well taken care of by the staff of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. The race organisers were superb, and we had one of the best regattas ever of a truly international standard. You hardly get a regatta in Singapore where the Principal Race Officer says, "If you don't like the course, tell us. We'll try to fix it and give you the race you want." No moving committee boats during the start either!

Even though we were a relatively new crew (we've never had a full training together!), we did pretty well with a few podium finishes, and missed the overall 3rd by only 1 point. The few broaches we had really tested us, and we made it a tradition to screw up the spinnaker in front of the committee boat on every finish! I'm sure we've learned alot from this regatta! I hope we can finally convince people that depowering the mainsail is good for stiff wind, and a flat boat is a fast boat.

Thank you RLYC for your hospitality and generosity, SMU for giving us the chance, the Aussies for their fun and laughter, and the Thai-French for the legendary Bucket story. (Ask us about it during our next gathering)

*note to self: time to send the camera for sensor cleaning...elephants are visible from f11 onwards.

16 crazy sailors from SMU skipped classes to sail in one of the premiere regattas in the Singapore racing scene held over 4 days in Batam.

We set off from RSYC on an exciting passage race towards Nongsa Point Marina where we spent the next 2 days racing windward-leeward sausages. We had mixed results ranging from 1st to DNFs and DFLs, but I'm sure the crew gained invaluable experience that would ensure a podium finish in future regattas.

The resort was comfortable and rather affordable ($127 per person for 3 nights) with a decent buffet breakfast. We had strict dietary requirements imposed by our nutrition nazi skipper and had to give up our usual peanut butter and coke in exchange for muesli bars and pocari isotonic drinks.

It was fun hanging out with all the sailors again, and great job guys! We've proven that Juno and Angel can be beaten!

Next stop: Royal Langkawi International Regatta in February!

After electing the new exco, we had some snacks and drinks at Frujch. It was rather nice to just sit back and relax after 6 weeks of school, and the beer and wine helped as well. The red was awful, but the white was still alright. Somehow, the Sprite tastes best.

Hope the new exco will have a good year ahead! Let's hope they get their act together and get in gear to go to France.. Somehow I have this feeling it'll just be lots of NATO again. Welcome to SMU. *sigh*

First ever SMU Sail Club training camp at Raffles Marina where we had lots of serious training, fun, and scandals!

Had a great time with the new sailors and we went through an intense weekend going through the rules, flags, and techniques of keelboat sailing. Hope all this pays off during the RSYC Regatta two weeks from now!