2024 Asian & Oceanian Championship – Hong Kong 

In December 2024, I was fortunate to participate in the last IODA event of the year. The Asian and Oceanian championships were held at the Clearwater Bay Yacht Club in Hong Kong. I flew out on Boxing Day to prepare for this amazing event. Conditions in Hong Kong were the opposite to Perth as it was their winter. I didn’t expect it to be too cold but was utterly surprised when I did go outside in my shirt and long pants. The wind conditions were very different to Perth as it was cold and windy in the morning, and then slowly dropped off as the afternoon went on. 

I knew when I came to this regatta that the Singaporean Squad would be sending their Worlds team to the regatta who were very fresh from the regatta and big waves in Argentina. I wasn’t surprised by strong competition as I have been to their Nationals as part of the AODS team and had seen the quality of their sailors. It was also good to catch up with some old friends in the Singapore team (Zeph and Sean). As expected, the Singaporeans were the team to beat as their best sailor was the reigning champion, and they delivered the goods by taking out the Teams racing event. Overall, I was very pleased to end up in Gold Fleet as only two members from the Australian team qualified to race with this flight. I sailed to my usual plan of focusing on the basics – clean start, clear lanes and hiking hard on the upwind, and I was lucky enough to finish the regatta as 3^rd Oceanian sailor. Congrats to Seb (Aus) and Harry (NZ) for taking out the other podium positions. Team AUS also took 1^st place in the Oceanian teams racing competition, and special mention to the WAIODA Teams coaching clinics for sharpening my Teams racing skills. 

Overall, I found this regatta very enjoyable, and I learned a lot from all the tough competition that this regatta brought. I would like to acknowledge all the members of the Australian team that came to Hong Kong and competed with me. Also, a big thanks to the coach Jack Lewis (Victoria) for supporting me and teaching all throughout this amazing journey. I would also like to extend a huge thanks to my WA coaches (Chris, Nia, Pol, Michael and Caitlin) who have all helped me get this far. Finally, I would like to give a huge thanks to Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, Fremantle Sailing Club and the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation for helping me get to Hong Kong and participate in this regatta.