"In August, I participated in the Singapore Sailing Nationals 2023 as part of the Australian Optimist Development Squad. 

Six of us travelled to Singapore from around Australia including NSW, QLD, TAS, SA and WA along with our coach, Marc Chapon, from Woollahra Sailing Club in NSW. 

The weather conditions in Singapore were hot and humid with some rain in the afternoons – so quite different to our cold winter climate that I was travelling from.

It is well known that currents are a big deal in Singapore – the big tankers in the bay were useful markers to show their direction! My teammates were all good sailors and we all knew that the currents were going to be our biggest challenge.

We had a lot of fun on and off the water - on the training days, we would hang out in the boat park, chatting and sharing lollies. After each training session we would go to the vending machine and buy ice cream. We also had a lot of fun in the pool, and coach Marc was constantly splashing us and throwing us up in the air. :)

So my scorecard started off not as well as I had hoped because I didn’t really understand how the currents worked. This changed throughout the competition and I was really pleased to finish off with a mostly consistent scorecard.

Singapore was a great experience, the food is really yummy there and I had a great time with the AODS. I hope that other sailors who get to go there will have a great experience too!"

Nicholas Cooper
AUS 1905

2023 Singapore National Sailing Championships
2 to 5 September