Life is...

Life is… "An athlete has to somehow figure out how to enrich the people around him, and not just himself. Otherwise, he's purposeless." - Lance Armstrong (Every Second Counts, page 211) Awfully true…it doesn’t sound so true until the fragility of life hits you in the face. Fresh from a series of races in both Formula and Shortboard, I was still high from the adrenaline treats racing and competing when a friend called to bring me sombre news. A friend had committed suicide and we are invited to the funeral wake. * crash * She is 23 and approaching the prime of her youth. I asked ‘why?’ and it seems, no one knows. Vera had always put on a cheerful disposition, despite me not being a close friend to her, I knew her from church youth ministry. I could not believe and I do not want to believe. It is too surreal. Everything I was doing at that time seems trivial, the windsurfing races, the career, the business, the gossip talks…what had appeared important immediately loses its primary value when juxtaposed with something of immeasurable value, Life. I would do anything to help a friend embrace hope again, I would give everything to have a friend to feel love again, and I would do anything to have a friend Live again… I wonder what is the best way to live life? How should we live life such that it is truly meaningful? Each person’s definition of ‘meaning’ and ‘life’ differs so greatly that one may murder to feel powerful and the other indulges in full-time missionary work to help the less fortunate. I do not have an answer but I figure that as long as someone is in need of love, I would give. If someone needs a lunch, I will buy. If someone needs a hug, I would embrace. If someone need a listening ear, I will be there. I guess that’s all I can do…

Asian Windsurfing Tour 2004

Press Release Courtesy Andrew Owen Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, Presented by Fosters The 10th Mana Mana Amslam, Presented by Neil Pryde 29-31 January 2004 Date: 5 February 2004 Two races were run today to open the 10th Mana Mana Amslam, the fourth event on the Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, presented by Foster’s. Defending Champion Robbie Radis from Australia took the first race but in the second he was beaten by Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo. At the end of the day Radis leads ahead of a consistent Bo Ruamsap of Thailand with Yoon in third. Every windsurfer knows the wind gods can be both fickle and cruel. For hours today the fleet of international windsurfers sat on a beach, albeit a beautiful one, and watched as the wind speed hovered just below an acceptable minimum. Every now and then gusts would arrive and a murmur would travel around the beach. But the murmurs would subside with the beach flags. Finally in mid afternoon the teasing was over and the fleet was able to take to the water. Wind speeds still hung at around 12 knots, a very gentle breeze, but just enough to start this year’s Mana Mana Amslam. This is the 10th year of the event and it has grown in both size and reputation. 46 competitors from 10 countries are competing for the title champion – and for the points they will receive towards the Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour Title. Going in to this event defending Adecco AWT Champion Robbie Radis from Australia is looking strong ahead of Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo and the UK’s Paul Philips. Other sailors to watch at this years Mana Mana Amslam will be Singaporean champion Andrew Foo and Thailand’s Bo Ruamsap (an Asian games Gold Medallist). In the ladies division Singapore’s Rachel Ng goes head to head again with Japan’s Ayako Suzuki. Windsurf racing is quite simple with the fleet of sailors crossing the start line as a clock reaches “zero” and racers travelling around a series of buoys or marks before crossing a finish line. The first across the line wins…. And the first race was a simple “Speed Dash” out to sea, around one mark and back to the finish line near shore. Across the start line it was clear that Radis, racing on his largest Neil Pryde RS4 race sail, had the board speed to win. But both Ruamsap and Yoon maintained contact but they could not really threaten a dominant Radis. A strong first race and perhaps a little daunting for the rest of the fleet. But the second race of the day was different. Yoon, who is also racing on the new RS4 sails, was also powered up and this time rounded the first mark ahead of both Ruamsap and Radis. The Australian was clearly not invincible and although Radis recovered into second position the victory was Yoon’s. Said Yoon “I am very happy to beat Robbie in the race. That first race showed that he has good speed and that he is in form. But I managed to beat him to the first mark and that was the key. We have two more days of racing and I’m still in third place behind both Robbie and Bo so I cannot get carried away.” Tonight the fleet travels north on Bintan to the Club Med resort for another night of partying on the Adecco AWT and racing will continue tomorrow. Stronger winds are forecast with those fickle wind gods saving the best until Saturday. Date: 6 February 2004 In another day of light winds only one slalom race was held today at the Mana Mana Amslam on Bintan, Indonesia. Winning the race was the familiar face of Robbie Radis from Australia while behind him was Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo and Thailand’s Bo Ruamsap. In fourth was Wang Yew Pang of Singapore. Rachel Ng (Singapore) meanwhile continued her incredible form to finish eighth in the race, beating all the women and most of the men. A challenging slalom course was set by Race Directors Klaus Michel and Ho Kah Soon. The 46-man fleet had to travel downwind around three marks before crossing the finish line off Mana Mana’s pristine white sands. Wind speeds were very gentle at 12 knots, occasionally gusting higher. It was plain that some of the fleet on smaller boards and smaller sails were struggling to get any momentum as they worked their way upwind to the startline. As the clock hit zero and the race began Radis burst across the line but was surrounded by a close pack of chasing sailors. Foremost amongst them was Singapore’s Wang Yew Pang and TC Chua with Bo Ruamsap snapping at their heals. Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo had had a bad start and was behind the consistently impressive Rachel Ng. Ayako Suzuki meanwhile, was again struggling for board speed and lagged behind. Around the first mark Yoon carved inside of Ruamsap and Ng and jumped up the fleet. As he hit the second mark he had overtaken Chua and was closing in on Wang. Plainly Yoon wanted to go all the way after his victory in the previous race. By the third and final mark Yoon had passed Wang to take second spot and he now focused on Radis, the Australian champion. But Radis was too fast and too far ahead and Yoon had to settle for second with Ruamsap again in third ahead of Wang in fourth. A smiling Ng crossed in eighth while Suzuki languished far back in the fleet. Date: 6 February 2004 Radis was now looking more secure at the top of the leader board with one more day of racing remaining “after losing that last race to Yoon I needed this and with only one race run today it was doubly important. I’ve got a slim 4 point lead at the moment so I can’t rest. But I’m happy”. Ng leads the ladies division comfortably and is showing many of the men how to sail “well I’m very proud of my sailing so far and it’s good to be in eighth. But in such light winds I do have a bit of an advantage because of my light weight. Certainly I think that Ayako is struggling a bit with the light conditions –but I’m used to this and I’m loving it.” Tonight there is a Foster’s Party at Mana Mana Beach Club as the Amslam celebrates it’s 10th anniversary and racing will continue tomorrow (Saturday) before the crowning of the new champion tomorrow night. Press Release Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, Presented by Fosters courtesy Andrew Owen, Proteus Sports The 10th Mana Mana Amslam, Presented by Neil Pryde 29-31 January 2004 In another day of light winds only one slalom race was held today at the Mana Mana Amslam on Bintan, Indonesia. Winning the race was the familiar face of Robbie Radis from Australia while behind him was Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo and Thailand’s Bo Ruamsap. In fourth was Wang Yew Pang of Singapore. Rachel Ng (Singapore) meanwhile continued her incredible form to finish eighth in the race, beating all the women and most of the men. A challenging slalom course was set by Race Directors Klaus Michel and Ho Kah Soon. The 46-man fleet had to travel downwind around three marks before crossing the finish line off Mana Mana’s pristine white sands. Wind speeds were very gentle at 12 knots, occasionally gusting higher. It was plain that some of the fleet on smaller boards and smaller sails were struggling to get any momentum as they worked their way upwind to the startline. As the clock hit zero and the race began Radis burst across the line but was surrounded by a close pack of chasing sailors. Foremost amongst them was Singapore’s Wang Yew Pang and TC Chua with Bo Ruamsap snapping at their heals. Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo had had a bad start and was behind the consistently impressive Rachel Ng. Ayako Suzuki meanwhile, was again struggling for board speed and lagged behind. Around the first mark Yoon carved inside of Ruamsap and Ng and jumped up the fleet. As he hit the second mark he had overtaken Chua and was closing in on Wang. Plainly Yoon wanted to go all the way after his victory in the previous race. By the third and final mark Yoon had passed Wang to take second spot and he now focused on Radis, the Australian champion. But Radis was too fast and too far ahead and Yoon had to settle for second with Ruamsap again in third ahead of Wang in fourth. A smiling Ng crossed in eighth while Suzuki languished far back in the fleet. Radis was now looking more secure at the top of the leader board with one more day of racing remaining “after losing that last race to Yoon I needed this and with only one race run today it was doubly important. I’ve got a slim 4 point lead at the moment so I can’t rest. But I’m happy”. Ng leads the ladies division comfortably and is showing many of the men how to sail “well I’m very proud of my sailing so far and it’s good to be in eighth. But in such light winds I do have a bit of an advantage because of my light weight. Certainly I think that Ayako is struggling a bit with the light conditions –but I’m used to this and I’m loving it.” Tonight there is a Foster’s Party at Mana Mana Beach Club as the Amslam celebrates it’s 10th anniversary and racing will continue tomorrow (Saturday) before the crowning of the new champion tomorrow night. Japan’s Ayako Suzuki (centre), so far unbeaten on the Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, is fighting a losing battle against Singpapore’s Rachel Ng. Rachel is not only winning the ladies division but lies in eighth position overall. Date: 7 February 2004 Winds roared into Bintan today clocking up to 21 knots and in perfect conditions five full rounds of racing were run. After four days of competition Robbie Radis was once again crowned champion of the Mana Mana Amslam. The battle for second place raged all day with Singapore’s TC Chua challenging Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo and Thailand’s Bo Ruamsap. In the last races of the day Yoon managed to clinch the second place ahead of Ruamsap and Chua had to settle for fourth. Bintan was alive with activity very early today (Saturday) as winds roared in from the South China Sea. These were the conditions that everyone had been waiting (and praying) for. With wind speeds hovering around 20 knots all day and a generous sea swell the conditions were challenging. And with some frustrating light wind days preceeding this, the Race Directors had a hard day planned for the 46-man fleet. Going into this final day of racing Robbie Radis was looking comfortable at the top of the leaderboard while beneath him the struggle was furious. No favourites could be found between Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo, Thailand’s Bo Ruamsap and Singaporean sailors TC Chua, Andrew Foo and Wang Yew Pang. In the second race of the day TC Chua of Singapore showed a startling return to form finishing second ahead of Ruamsap and Andrew Foo. But then it was time for Yoon to stake his claim, this time finishing second ahead of Chua and Ruamsap. Now, after seven races only a quarter of a point separated Yoon and Ruamsap with Chua close behind. Said Chua before the race “well we have to accept that we can’t catch Radis this time. His gear is well tuned, he is fit – and he’s been to every stop on the Tour of course. But we have a fight on for second place. After recent injury worries I’m just pleased to be out there being competitive”. Yoon was more fired up saying “I just need to finish ahead of Bo (Ruamsap) and I’ll be confirmed in second place. I am going fast and I’m confident. But there’s many good sailors out there and the conditions are hard. All I know for sure is that I’ll try my best”. Across the start line all the top sailors crossed as a pack and it was still unclear who was in the lead as they descended upon the first mark. And it was Yoon ahead of Chua and Englishman Paul Philips. Ruamsap had slipped to fifth. And with everyone keyed up and flying he would have to rely on the mistakes of others. And despite the strong winds and huge swells no mistakes were made and across the line it was Radis from a jubilant Yoon, a resurgent Chua, a surprised Philips and finally a frustrated Ruamsap. There was one more race run and some of the lower places would still be settled but the top of the leader board remained the same. Radis is crowned champion again with Yoon in second, Ruamsap in third with Chua settling for fourth. Said Radis “I’m really happy to be champion here again. This is the first ever event on the Adecco AWT that I ever won and it’s special for me. We had such good conditions today that the light wind days before are all forgotten and the discards remove all the luck or chance from the result. It’s been a fantastic event and the competition has been tough. The event is getting bigger and more international and I look forward to defending my title next year. Meantime I’m now off to Saipan for the final event on the Tour – and I’ll be looking for the same result there.” The ladies division had been looking one-dimensional until today with Rachel Ng not just beating the women, but also many of the men. But today, in the higher winds, Japan’s Ayako Suzuki saw a return to form that pushed Ng back into second in the ladies. Suzuki finished an incredible 6th overall, while Ng finished in 16th overall. In other divisions Leo Leow from Malaysia won the Masters (over 40) while Tsuneoka Masahiro from Japan won the Grand Masters (over 55). The Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, presented by Foster’s, now heads to the Pacific Island paradise of Saipan for the fifth and final event on the Tour, the Marianas Open. Radis takes with him a commanding lead into the last event and it will be hard for Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo to close the gap. The Mana Mana Amslam is a prestigious event in it’s own right and it fits into the larger Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour that groups together the premier windsurfing events in the region. 1) The Penghu Pro-am, Penghu, Taiwan (November 2003) 2) The Boracay International Funboard Cup, Philippines (January 2004) 3) Monsoon Madness, Kuantan, Malaysia (January 2004) 4) The Mana Mana Amslam, Bintan, Indonesia (February 2004) 5) The Marianas Open, Saipan (February 2004) Through the season competitors at each event earn points towards the overall Adecco AWT Championship and at the end of the season in Saipan a new Asian Champion is crowned. The Mana Mana Amslam (and all the events on the Adecco AWT) is being filmed for international television and in all, the event will reach an audience of over 150 million households around the globe. The World will be watching as the 10th Mana Mana Amslam sets sail.