Published on November 17, 2005

With Asian Hobie 16 champion Damrongsak Vongthim leading the assault, Thai sailors are looking beyond their shores and have charted a course to win three gold medals at the SEA Games in the Philippines. A full-strength squad of 20 sailors and eight officials left for the Philippines on November 9 to become the first Thai team in place for the 23rd SEA Games, which will kick off on November 27.

According to Rear Admiral Sunun Monthatpalin, who leads the Thai sailing squad, the advance trip is to give his sailors a chance to acclimatise to the wind and sea conditions at Subic Bay, the venue for the sailing competition.

In an interview yesterday with The Nation, Rear Admiral Apiwat Srivardhana, the secretary-general of the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand who will travel to the Philippines to join the team on Saturday, said the association had set its sight on winning at least three gold medals at the Games.

“There was no sailing competition at the previous SEA Games in Vietnam. Our sailors gained valuable experience by taking part other events such as the Asian Championships and international sailing competitions,” said Apiwat.

This year’s SEA Games sailing competition will feature a total of 10 gold medals from the Optimist (boys and girls), Laser (men and women), 420 (juniors), 420 (men and women), Hobie 16 (men) and 470 (men and women) classes.

“We are fielding 16 sailors and crew in all events. Our hopes are high in three events - veteran Damrongsak Vongthim has an experienced crew with his younger brother Sakda in the Hobie, Manus Phothong in the men’s Laser and Viwat Poonpat in the men’s 420.

“If I’m not wrong, Damrongsak will be our greatest hope to return with the gold medal. He took part in a sailing competition at Subic Bay a few months ago and he performed superbly to win the gold.

“He also competed at the recent Asian Hobie 16 Championships in Hong Kong and beat all challengers to win the gold medal. His success augers well for another gold medal in the SEA Games.

“Damrongsak has won several gold medals at previous SEA Games. He is so confident that he told me a gold could be within his reach at next year’s Asian Games in Qatar,” he said.

“The wind and sea conditions at Subic Bay are unreliable and change a lot and our advance trip will, I think, help our sailors get well acquainted with the conditions. In the Malaysia edition of the Games four years ago, we returned with only five medals, two of them silver.

“At that time, Burmese sailors had major support financially from their government and were surprise winners in several events. However, a year later at the Asian Games in South Korea they were below-par and did not win a single gold.

“I think our main rivals at this year’s SEA Games are hosts the Philippines and Singapore. However, I think my sailors are well prepared for a competitive competition.

“Everyone is fit physically and mentally, while sports science has also been used to help our sailors. I think our chances this time are the brightest ever.”

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

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