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| Page Views: 1,211 | The Story of a MIRACLE (26 March 06) by sailor_p - last update: Mar 27, 2007 |
Life is full of miracles - and so is sailing! Dear Friends, after sailing Miracle for a year, I have decided to sell this beautiful to a deserving individual. As I am coping in my new work, I have not been sailing her for a long time. Over the months, she has gathered lots of dust. After much consideration, I have decided to let go this boat to an aspiring school boy who loves sailing. I believe he will take good care of Miracle.
Looking back, my sailing journey has been filled with amazing grace. I’ve never explored doing water sports in my whole life till by chance, I won a lucky draw to attend the basic sailing course at the SAF Yacht Club from my company. That marks the start of this journey. But this journey is not that smooth sailing. I still remembered my first regatta at Sembawang Regatta in 2004. I think almost half of the time, I needed to be rescued by the organizer whenever the wind blew above 10 knots! The first time I joined the SAFYC Laser/Byte High Performance class in mid-2004, I remembered that I could only sail two rounds and had to give up. Fast forward to 2006, I can now catch up with the squad and come back together. And most importantly, I don’t need rescue service. It's definitely a miracle to survive and completed all the races at the recent SAFYC Changi regatta which was held at the height of the NE monsoon. |
| Launching Miracle at the SAFYC Changi Club |
|  | Why Miracle? The turning point of this sailing journey is the purchase of this boat. I first saw this boat at Pesta Sukan 2004 and I was literally drooling over it. I remembered it was sailed by one of the top Saint Andrew Junior College (SAJC) sailors and I was just thinking aloud that sailors at SAJC are really blessed to have such a great fleet of boat for sailing. For every regatta, I would just admire this boat from far. But little did I know that SAJC would be closing its sailing team and selling off their boats. More miraculously, my coach, Uncle Tonny, got to know about the sale and even helped me to secure a really good deal for such a great boat. The process of buying this boat is also a miracle – it’s not everyday that you can get a radial set off the market. Not only that, Uncle Tonny helped me to secure the deal with a carbon tiller and two almost brand new radial sail. And if still want to get an auto-bailer for Laser at $25, I am sorry, please abandon the idea because I got the last one for $20! Ever since I bought her, many pleasant surprises have happened. And that’s the reason why I named her “Miracle”. |
| Cheers to more good sailing days! |
| | The Great Commission on 26 Mar 06 Initially, I planned for a "name unveiling" ceremony. However, the plan was scraped at the 11th hour due to poor attendance by external guests. Of course, I was disappointed. However, on the evening of 25th March (the day before the planned ceremony), the idea of "commissioning" the boat was raised and somehow, with the support of fellow sailors and my coach, I decided to have a commission instead. It was all done in a rush! |
| Launching the boat - with the help of the kids! |
| | The Launch of Miracle Miracle was officially launched on 26 Mar 06. No fanfare. No expensive champagne. Just a bottle of bubbly fruit juice, 8 bottles of liquid bubbles, me, my boat and most of all, the enthusiasm and presence of fellow sailors and club members. Special mention goes to Tang and Jeremy of SAFYC who made the special trouble to come down to the club to help me conduct this simple and short ceremony (I think it was over in 10 minutes time!). Thanks Winnie for your help too! And of course, not forgetting Uncle Tonny who gave me many interesting suggestions on the launch. Without them, I don't think the launch was a success. And most of all, the adorable children from the Optimist Squad was equally excited. They were so eager to launch the boat without knowing that the owner and sailor wasn't onboard! |
| Circling around the marina at the launch |
| | The Next Milestone in Sailing I believe that the commissioning of Miracle marks the next milestone in this sailing journey. I just pray that for everyone present at the launch, he/she will also be equally blessed in his/her own journeys too with miracles.
PS: I was told that the event would be published in the next issue of our club's newsletter and I am looking forward to reading it! Though my friends were not there, I still have great fun. The young sailors in my squad were really excited and even tried to blow the bubbles before the event. I saw one of them secretly refilling the bottle with sea water - hmm... must have finished blowing the liquid before the launch commenced! |
| A little push from Byte Sailor Andrew |
| | About Miracle Some interesting facts about Miracle:
Miracle is a Laser Radial made in May 2001 (come this May 06 and Miracle will be celebrating her 5th birthday!). The dimensions are as follows:
Length(LOA) - 4.23m
Beam - 1.42m
Draft - 0.9m
Mast Height (Complete) - 5.9m
Boom - 2.74m
Weight of Hull - 59kg
The Laser Radial has been chosen by the Olympics for the ladies single-handed dinghy category. |
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Aidy_p Thu Aug 28, 2008 16:32 UTC
I did. 10km. Din want to break my back nor my knees doing 21. :) Maybe after 1-2 yrs of training | WorldMeet2008 Tue Jul 22, 2008 15:09 UTC
Your next trip? Make it really unique! It's not too late to attend WM08 - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv & Dead- Sea on 25- 28th Sept (+Petra 29-30th). We want to double the num of attendees to 100! Click to learn where, when, what, how, how much! Avi [FruitLover | xuessium Sun Jun 29, 2008 08:17 UTC
Thanks for the birthday greetings, Theresa. Very kind of you. Sorry for the late reply - I was on the road. | ViajesdelMundo Thu Jun 12, 2008 14:40 UTC
HI - I see you hv same birthday as one of my sisters; sure hope it was a great day! I have a quick overnight again in Singapore next month on my way back to Sri Lanka--I think this will be my 12th ~~ time there. How is your improved eyesight?? |
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