Kota Kinabalu: Chia Ching Byn and crew member Chia Tshen Yeaw successfully defended their International 470 Open title at the 29th Merdeka Day Open Regatta 2024 organised by Kinabalu Yacht Club which was held in Tanjung Aru over the weekend.
They defeated Muhd Afiq Irsyad Adam/Melvin Sikayun and Lucqmann Racheed/Abby Adriana to take home the winning trophy, while the International 420 Open overall title went to Bibi Qeesha Mohd Faizal/Natasha Wong See Kei.
The ILCA 7 overall title was won by Anas Shaidi Johari and in second place was Mohd Suhaily Azlan Ahmad with Mohd Ismail Yakub third.
Laurenze Leonardo Daim, Nur Hafizahanani Zailah and Muhd Zabir Hanif Mohd Azian claimed the top three places in the ILCA 6 overall category.
The top three winners in ILCA 4 were (female) Zeti Irdina Zainal, Kee Aleana Abdullah and Bindy Vitales Jones and (male) Mohd Syahieradham Raiman, Adam Carraz and Qasya Chairullah.
In the optimist race, Muhd Aiman Aqeel Mohd Firdaus captured the overall title followed by Mohd Iftittah Andi and Ziqri Luqman Zinal and the three also took the top three spots in division A.
The division B winner was Muhd Abqaasri Irham Adam with Muhd Harith Qaiser Ahmad Mokhdas and Izz Qaireen Chairullah in second and third place respectively, and the top three places in division C went to Macy Mosom Sikayun, Andre Martin and Ahmad Wafiy Azzam Mohd Resal.
In the girls category, Macy Mosom Sikayun came top ahead of Natalie Wong Qiao En and Izz Qaireen Chairullah.
The boys title was won by Muhd Aiman Aqeel Mohd Firdaus with Mohd Iftittah Andi in second place and Ziqri Luqman Zinal in third, while the top three spots in the novice overall category went to Muhd Fairuz Muhamad, Jazel Qalish Izwani Hasdanizam and Maryam Riyatudin.
Lisa Poroting ruled supreme in the female SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) races by taking both the sprint and technical titles.
In second and third places in both female categories were (sprint) Reena James and Amabel Seow Min Hui and (technical) Amabel Seow and Reena James.
In the male categories, the sprint title was won by Gordon Goh Zhu Chen followed by Muhd Aswad BPM and Koh Cheng Hsiung, while Muhd Aswad BPM took the technical title ahead of Gordon Goh Zhu Chen and Koh Cheng Hsiung.
Meanwhile, the windsurf open title winner was Zeid Ashraf Zainal and in second place was Ian Low.
The annual event attracted a total of 75 participants and the closing ceremony was officiated by Sabah Sports Council deputy director Valerie Wong and also present were KYC honourable secretary Jaswinder Singh and Sabah Sailing Association president Zainal Madi.
