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Sailors stay in the hunt in Nanjing

NANJING — He had been controversially flagged for a technical infringement in Race 2 on the opening day of the men’s Byte CII competition on Monday, but yesterday at Jinniu Lake, where winds continued to be light and shifty, Singapore’s Bernie Chin gave his opponents something to think about after finishing first and second in Races 3 and 4, respectively.

Singapore national sailor Bernie Chin. Photo: Ernest Chua

Singapore national sailor Bernie Chin. Photo: Ernest Chua

NANJING — He had been controversially flagged for a technical infringement in Race 2 on the opening day of the men’s Byte CII competition on Monday, but yesterday at Jinniu Lake, where winds continued to be light and shifty, Singapore’s Bernie Chin gave his opponents something to think about after finishing first and second in Races 3 and 4, respectively.

After starting the day in 27th place, the 15-year-old shot up the rankings and is currently in 13th place with seven races to go.

Revelling in the conditions where the wind varied between four and eight knots — akin to what he is familiar with in training back home in Singapore — Bernie counted on his experience and his pedigree of being the first boy in three recent mixed gender competitions: The Dutch Youth Regatta, Langkawi Asian Championship and Rhode Island World Championship.

He also had the words of his coach Fernando Alegre very much in mind.

Said Alegre: “I spoke with him last night of stories of late comebacks in sailing, and he went all out and performed up to his usual standard today. There are seven races to go, and he still has a chance (to medal).”

In this 11-race competition, each sailor will be allowed one discard, while the final race will carry double points. “If he comes in within top five again in the two races tomorrow and discards the 31 points from the second race, he will be in first position,” said Alegre. “He has to focus tomorrow.”

In the women’s Byte CII competition, Singapore’s Samantha Yom kept pace after chalking up third and 21st in her two races.

After starting the day in second place, Samantha’s results were good enough to keep her in third place, and still in medal position.

Meanwhile, the Techno 293 windsurfing competition was called off due to low wind speeds. Singapore’s Ynez Lim, 16, remains in 13th place in the fleet of 21 after three races.

For Alegre, it was important for his charges to stay focused on the remaining days of competition.

“We had consecutive long days of more than 10 hours each day, and the important thing here is to get as much as we can. It is a two-hour long journey from our hotel to the lake, and it can be easy to not perform to your best because of fatigue,” he said.

Singapore’s sailing trio at Nanjing will be looking to better the one bronze Singapore bagged via Audrey Yong in the Techno 293 at the inaugural YOG at home four years ago, and the seventh and fifth places by Darren Wong and Natasha Yokoyama in the Byte CII. ADELENE WONG

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