17th Horsburgh Challenge (Southern Route

Our yearly rendezvous for seasoned and new sailors alike, the 17th Horsburgh Challenge (Southern Route) on 12 & 13 February 2022, didn't disappoint! Two days of clear blue skies and constant but patchy breeze gave competitors a good challenge for all 4 races completed over the weekend. The Horsburgh leg did not materialise for the second year running as it was adjusted in view of both the COVID-19 situation and general safety considerations.

The first day was the classic long passage race, which sent the sailors cruising along the Southern Route with scenic views of the East Coast shoreline for a change. Interestingly, the Organisation Committee also had to take into consideration the restrictions as the regatta coincided with the rehearsals for Singapore Air Show 2022, but this gave our sailors the best seats in the audience to watch the fighter jets and RSAF pilots do their thing. After a slight delay, the AP flag was dropped and we had a clear start at 0721hrs and a beautiful sunrise lighting up the horizon, giving our sailors plenty of light to navigate their first race. By noon, the biggest and fastest boat of the fleet, Mystic River helmed by Pang Kim Ann was already close to the midway point at Approach buoy while the smaller boats were doing their best to keep up and catch up. On the back-end, the organising team was deliberating on whether to shorten the course whist taking into consideration the strong currents, on and off breeze and the varying PY ratings. As the breeze picked up, the final decision was to let the boats go all out and to maintain the finishing line at Changi Sailing Club.

Mystic River was the first to cross the finishing line at 1447hrs, taking line honours and first place after corrected timing for their stellar performance. In

second place, Spellbound skippered by Raymond Sng crossed the finishing line close to two hours behind Mystic River. Millennium 2, helmed by our very own Sailing Chairman, Ken Yap literally edged in for 3rd place, just making the 10hour cut-off for the passage and finished at 1715hrs. Unfortunately for the rest, despite their fervor efforts, they scored DNF for the long passage, and Rumbottle, helmed by Kuah En Shyang, ever the wise one decidedly chose to retire from the race mid-way when they did their math and realised they were not going to make the cut-off.

Overnight, the Organisation Committee received news that Spellbound was retiring from the regatta due to an engine malfunction, which meant that the fleet had one less competitor on the start line.

Nevertheless, Day 2 started on time with the first warning signal going off at 1000hrs. Course flag numeral pennant 6 over green, sent the 5-boat fleet around Pulau Ubin in clockwise direction and the time limit set was 210minutes. Mystic River, having shown their dominance in Day 1 continued their strong showing by finishing at 1230hrs, and the rest of the fleet scored DNF.

The second race of the day was a short and sweet windward-leeward from Changi Sailing Club to Changi Buoy and back. This gave the smaller boats an edge over Mystic River as Millennium 2 sailed their A-game and beat Mystic River by 11 seconds after corrected time! Innisfree helmed by Alfred Leung finished in third place with Piccanini right on their tail.

The last race of the day was a sail up to Tekong Buoy and back, with the starting signal going off at 1449hrs, just in time to adhere to SI 5.3 which states "No warning signal will be made after 1500hrs”. Mystic River once again dominated the race and secured the top spot, Millennium 2 crossed the finish line with Innisfree and Piccanini not too far behind. After the tabulation of handicaps, Piccanini skippered by Damien Chng came in second place, beating Millennium 2 by over a minute. The overall results after 4 races with 1 discard saw Mystic River in first place, Millennium 2 in second place and Piccanini in third – proving that tenacity will surely pay off!

Bravo Zulu to our overall winner, Mystic River and its crew for the top notch performance! Hats off to all the sailors too, who displayed great tenacity and sportsmanship and who put in their best efforts.

We'd like to thank our friends at Changi Sailing Club, for being great host and who extended their warmest hospitality. Finally, a big thank you to our participants and we hope to see you all next year!

Skipper Alfred Leung and crew onboard Innisfree.

Our Captain of Sail and skipper Ken Yap and crew onboard Millennium 2.