Singapore – Four months after taking over the reins as President of the Singapore Sailing Federation (SingaporeSailing), Dr Ben Tan today unveiled the blueprint for the sport from 2010 to 2016 in a media conference held at the National Sailing Centre. The three-time Sportsman of the Year and Asian Games gold medalist, together with his team, has crafted a strategic plan named The Next Leg which has documented the current state of the sport and the executive committee’s recommendations on bringing the sport forward to greater successes.

Since taking over the helm at SingaporeSailing, the new leadership took stock of the administration, the three areas of High Performance, High Participation and Industry Development, and have made insightful recommendations to strengthen these pillars to ensure holistic and sustainable success. The Executive Committee at SingaporeSailing gathered feedback from various stakeholders from as early as 2009. More systematic feedback was gathered through focus group discussions with various stakeholders in July to September this year, rounding off with discussions with SingaporeSailing’s management to better understand the current state of affairs. It was only after detailed discussions and consultations with a wide spectrum of stakeholders that the Executive Committee formulated the strategic plans to address the weaknesses, consolidate on the strengths and position SingaporeSailing for the next leg with 10 strategic thrusts, the impact of which will be seen over the next six years.

In the development of High Performance sailing, Singapore sailors have dominated at the SEA Games and Asian Games. The sailors have also accumulated 18 world titles (a windsurfing masters title, a disabled sailing world title and 16 youth world titles), and are now striving to achieve at the senior World and Olympic levels.

Since the Singapore Sailing Federation was established in 1966, the sport made progressive strides to achieve consistent gold medals hauls at each SEA Games, and went on to win its first ever Asian Games Gold (Ben Tan, Laser) and a World Masters title (Kelly Chan, windsurfing) in 1994. Its sailors improved on its medal haul at the 1998 Asian Games, winning two Gold medals.

A slight dip in performance was seen in 2001 and 2002, but SingaporeSailing responded promptly when then President Low Teo Ping asked Dr Ben Tan to revamp its High Performance systems. Dr Ben Tan led the 12-member High Performance Sailing Committee in formulating the High Performance Sailing Strategic Plan 2003-2008), resulting in 7 Golds at the 2005 SEA Games, 5 Golds at the 2006 Asian Games, 1 Gold at the 2008 IFDS World Championship, and 16 World youth titles.

Not satisfied with simply staying at its 2006 peak and eager for Olympic success, the new executive committee has responded emphatically by taking an in-depth look at the current state of sailing, and wants to shore up its foundations to launch itself into the next leg. Novel experiential sailing programmes like SailFun and SailSmart have been created to bring participation level to a new realm. More focus will be placed on community engagement, fund raising activities, international relations and human capital management to ensure an organic growth in the ecosystem of sailing.

The following 10 strategic thrusts are recommended to ensure SingaporeSailing continues to break new ground. The fast-moving executive committee has begun implementing some of the strategic thrusts, and the rest will be progressively implemented by end of 2011.

l   Restructuring SingaporeSailing

l   Ensuring a Continuous Olympic Pathway

l   Building a Strong Base of Quality Coaches

l   Maintaining Faith in Our Selection Systems and Processes

l   Grooming Sailors with Character

l   Engaging Our Members and other Stakeholders

l   Leave No Class Behind

l   Taking the Lead in being Inclusive

l   Stretching the Sailing Dollar

l   Building Bridges

*The strategic thrusts above include the areas of administration, high performance, high participation and industry development and are not listed in order of preference.

Dr Ben Tan said, “The implementation of these strategic thrusts requires the collective effort of all stakeholders in the sailing fraternity. We will harness the strong support from our member clubs to continue to deliver for Singapore. With The Next Leg now charted to 2016, we will now aim to sail the leg confidently to ensure a holistic and smooth passage for the sport, and in the process, we will ensure that we leave no one behind.”

Dr Ben Tan added that the search for a Chief Executive Officer and the Head of High Performance are part of this restructuring process. “They are critical positions which will ensure that SingaporeSailing is able to make that quantum leap. The Human Resource Committee is impressed with the quality of the candidates and is confident of finding the talents to fit the roles. We look forward to announcing the individuals once the administrative processes are completed,” said Dr Ben Tan.

THE NEXT LEG: Reactions from the sailing fraternity

“I welcome Ben and SingaporeSailing’s blueprint – I think it is a very enlightened and comprehensive strategic roadmap that would hasten SingaporeSailing’s development as it moves into the future. I believe any long term strategic plan should address the “5 Ss”: which are the key pillars: the sport of sailing, the sportsman, the sponsor, the state, and the spectators. This blueprint will provide a good platform to balance all five pillars. A broad spectrum approach, rather than a silver bullet, is needed at this time, for the further development of sailing, as a natural sport of choice for Singaporeans and a national sport for Singapore.”

- Mr Francis Lee, President, Raffles Marina

“Sailors go through various stages in their development, and I have gone through a few phases myself, from a junior college sailing team representative, through national service, and through university. I have continued sailing throughout, but there have been different challenges along the way. I am happy to see that Ben and the new Executive Committee has taken a serious look at these challenges and are taking definitive steps as addressing them. When we heard that Ben was coming back to lead SingaporeSailing, there was a palpable sense of optimism among us sailors, and we look forward to the future of sailing in Singapore.”

- Alvin Hong, former Vice-Captain of the Victoria Junior College sailing team

“There is no doubt that coaching is an integral part of the sport, be it in High Performance or High Participation. As a coach, I’m glad to see that Ben and his Executive Committee has identified the areas in coaching that needs to be addressed, and have taken decisive steps to better position us for growth.”

- TC Chua, windsurfing coach to Audrey Yong, YOG Bronze medalist

“The Next Leg takes an unflinching, all encompassing look at every aspect of our sport as it prepares to take sailing into the next decade. As a laggard class, to realise our vision of a vibrant keelboat scene and industry, some broad areas we are looking at would be to develop key iconic (mass participation) local events e.g. the Round Island Race (aka The World’s Longest Dinghy Race), to enhance existing events, to introduce new events and to fully develop the keelboat calendar.  We intend to work with all the clubs to achieve this mass participation. This includes the new match-race league which will kick off next year in the Marina Barrage. We are also developing keelboat certification and plan to train and develop more coaches, instructors, race officers, umpires, measurers, jury and volunteers to support our vibrant keelboat scene.”

- Ms Mok Kah Mun, SingaporeSailing’s Vice President for High Participation and Chairperson of the Keelboat Committee

“We have taken an in-depth and ground-up look at the gaps in the High Performance systems in SingaporeSailing, in consultation with all stakeholders, so that SingaporeSailing is in the best position to sail the next leg. Only by acknowledging these gaps, plugging them, and coming up with bold initiatives, as seen in The Next Leg blueprint, can we make the next quantum leap and deliver sustainable results for Singapore. The key objective is sustainable results and not a one-time flash in the pan gain which does not augur well for SingaporeSailing. A culture of shaping and moulding and open opportunity needs to be in place to ensure we have sailors and volunteers alike to repopulate and sustain our sailing aspirations as a nation. High Performance is closely linked to and dependent on High Participation and Industry Development, and that is why we are going through great lengths to strengthen the other two pillars as well.”

- Rupert Ong, SingaporeSailing’s Vice President for High Performance

“The 2011 Calendar will include more Keelboat events to cater to our growing pool of sailors who have graduated in sailing, completed their national service and education and are now working adults. Keelboat sailing encompasses two aspects – competitive racing where we can select teams to represent Singapore at regional regattas like the Raja Muda , King’s Cup or the China Cup International Regatta and our very own Singapore Straits Regatta to name a few. Secondly for those who do not like to race, they can enjoy cruising to nearby island destinations with their family and friends. SingaporeSailing considers the cruising sailors as part of our family and wants to keep them in the sailing fraternity. These sailors can help us propagate sailing to the next generation after all. Hopefully, sailing will be part of Singapore culture.”
- Maj (Ret) Tan Hua Chiow, SingaporeSailing’s Deputy Treasurer and Chairman of the Regatta Committee

“Sailability gladly welcomes the roadmap that Ben and his Executive Committee has so efficiently put in place since taking office not long ago. We are of course very happy to see that the progressive roadmap fully integrates disabled sailing into all its tenets, from racing, to enhanced interaction between disabled and able-bodied sailors, to awards and recognition. This sincere effort is a great leap forward for not only the sport of sailing, but also for our society as a whole.”
- Mr Frankie Thanapal Sinniah, Chairman, Singapore Disability Sports Council