2003 Hobie Tiger Worlds - Pending IHCA Approval

Time to start thinking about SINGAPORE!!!!

The Hobie Tiger Worlds are being held in Singapore in February, 2003. I want to give everyone some advance notice on costs so you could plan on attending. It is going to be a very inexpensive event to attend since the Event Organizing Committee has obtained a sponsor that is allowing us to ship our boats to Singapore and back FREE.

Last week International Hobie Class Association President Mr. Thomas Poulsen signed an agreement with Mr. Michael Lee Chief Executive Officer of Raffles Marina, Singapore for the hosting of the 3^rd Carlsberg Hobie Tiger World Championships. The Carlsberg Hobie Tiger World Championships will be hosted by Raffles Marina 10-14 February 2003. This is the first time the newly appointed ISAF International Class boat has held its world championship out side Europe.  Also it bring together long time supporter Carlsberg who have sponsored 10 Danish Championships and 2 European Championships to sponsor their first Hobie world championship. With the 5 star facilities at Raffles Marina and the support of Carlsberg Breweries the IHCA are very excited to offer this event to its sailors. 

SINGAPORE Local Climatic Characteristics

Location
Raffles Marina is located at Latitude 1 degree 20.53 minutes North and Longitude 103 degrees 38.22 minutes East. It is situated at the western end of Singapore. The race site is in the water immediately off the marina in the West Johore straits

General
The characteristic features throughout the year are high temperature and humidity, with copious rainfall and thundery conditions.

Wind
Winds are generally light or moderate in both seasons ( NE Monsoon and SW Monsoon ); the usual weather pattern is for partly cloudy mornings inland with showers and thunderstorms developing by mid afternoon and dispersing at night. Showers and thunderstorms may drift over coastal waters and out to sea in an evening if wind conditions are appropriate, particularly during the NE Monsoon season.

North-East Monsoon Season - December to March
Northeast winds prevail; sometimes-reaching 20 km/h. Cloudy conditions in December and January with frequent afternoon showers. Spells of widespread moderate to heavy rain occur lasting 1 to 3 days at a stretch. Relatively drier in February till early March. Also generally windy with wind speed sometimes-reaching 30 to 40 km/h ( about 16 to 22 knots ) in the month of January and February.

In February, the wind at the race site will be northeasterly blowing almost parallel to the coastline. Light breeze will start to build up in the morning.As it get hotter in the afternoon, the wind will reach its maximum and remain constant till about 5.00 pm before dying down to dead calm before sunset. Then, the night sea breeze sets in from the southwesterly direction.

The race site is in the West Johore Straits. There are no tall buildings on the Singapore coastline and the Malaysian side, therefore the wind directions are not affected. During light wind of 8 to 12 knots, the sea is relatively calm with light waves of less than ½ m. In stronger wind above 16 knots, short swell of up to 1m can be expected.

Tidal Characteristics
The tide is generally semi-durnial in the West Johore Straits. Flooding tide will follow the coastline in a northeasterly direction ( 030 degrees) and ebbing tide flows in the opposite direction. The tidal stream average about 11/2 to 2 knots. Because of reclamation, the tidal stream is stronger on the Singapore side of the two coastlines.

Traffic Density
The West Johore Straits is relatively quite compared to other parts of Singapore. There are no shipping traffic or fishing activities at all because of the causeway that is adjacent the marina. Boat movements are limited to pleasure crafts from the marina and the Police Coast Guard that patrol the waters.