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When
I was young I had the opportunity to live in one of the
national bank villas by the lakeside, and it was simply
a very lovely scene to see colorful yachts sailing in
the scenic Inya Lake, especially in the evenings while
the sun is setting. During public holidays and on weekends,
we would often go for a swim in the middle of the lake,
with our own little row boat, from where I would have
a closer look at the yachts and wondered how they use
the sail to steer the boat in all directions although
the wind was from only one direction. I also could not
understand when the boats would go zigzag in approaching
the buoy near our place. Sometimes they would shout at
us to keep clear or stay away as they obviously did not
want us to interfere with their racing.
I
was about 12 years then and was quite active in the other
water sport - swimming, which I have started since 3 years
old. I took-up swimming at the Kokine Swimming Club and
swam competitively all the way up to my high school final
days. I regularly took part in national swimming championships
representing my club. I also tried out during the selection
trials for the SEA Games but was not lucky enough, as
I was always second to the winners. Those days only the
winners are selected to represent the country during the
SEA Games.
Soon
after I passed my matriculation exam, I started learning
how to sail, taking part in the Summer Sailing Course.
I remember U Sein Hlaing, who coached and encourage me
to seriously take-up the sport. Only after three consecutive
summer sailing courses, I began to take part in the regular
weekend club races. 'A' Class sailors during that time,
all of whom happened to be my coaches one way or the other
were U Sein Hlaing, Ko Khin Thein, Ko Tun Thein, Ko Sandow,
Ko Thiha, Ko Htay Kyaw, Aung Aung Kyaw, Tun Tun Kyaw,
Zaw Myint, Maung Maung Thwin, Ko Saw Dait, Ko Nanda Kyaw
Zwa, and several others. Kalasies - Mg Mg Lay, Narzit,
Unut and Khin Mg Kyi also taught me quite a bit. Senior
'B' sailors during that time were Naing Moe Aye, Htet
Nyi, Kyaw Htet, Min Htet and my contemporaries 'B' sailors
were Ma Lay Myaing, Phone Win, Kyaw Thu, Han Kyi, Aung
Htike, Thinzar Nyunt, Yuzar Maw Tun, and Ohmar Tha Khin.
My elder brother
Ye Wint Kyaw also completed the Summer Sailing Course.
However, being a professional seafarer, he was unable
to participate actively with me as a B Class sailor. My
two younger brothers also took part in the courses, but
they did not complete the courses especially since as
beginners your soft hands would often have cut, bruises
and abrasions from the sheet while sailing in rough weather
or strong winds. |
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Actually
in sailing one needs a lot of endurance, stamina and upper
body strength to withstand the physical hardships. One
must also be able to think trigonometrically while trying
to interpret the wind since one needs to sail at an angle
to the wind and could not sail direct towards a destination.
Thus, sailing is highly technical sports which take years
of experience and knowledge before one could become successful
as a competitor.
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For
our weekend club races, we have to sail together with
the much more experience 'A' helmsmen as your crew determined
by a draw system. However, for the Monthly Challenge Cup
races and other outright cup races, we could have 'A'
sailor as crew by a booking system. Whoever books the
top a sailor of course had a slight advantage during racing.
Therefore we would always have arguments among us as to
who book who first. Those days we could not enjoy the
services of foreign coaches thus the only way to improve
quickly is by sailing together with the much more experience
‘A’ sailors from whom we would learned a lot
when it comes to competitive sailing. |
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During
my time as a 'B' sailor, especially in the early stages,
I felt very confident to compete with other ‘B’
sailors especially with a good ‘A’ sailor
as my crew but after some years I felt the confidence
in myself slowly built up and I could proudly monitor
my status on the ladder inching upwards one by one.
After some years I
was promoted to become an 'A' sailor and almost immediately
I noticed it was certainly not going to be easy to fight
for my position on the ladder. As a 'B' sailor I was always
in the top three positions on the |
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‘B’
ladder and I was getting quite a bit of prizes at the
annual prize awards ceremony. But as an ‘A’
there was a dramatic change. I ended up in the reverse
where myself, Ma Lay Myaing and Ko Aye Thein alternatively
would be sharing the bottom position of the ‘A’
ladder.
Trying
my best as an 'A' sailor, I was finally selected to take
part in 1991 SEA Games held in the Philippines, as a crew
in the Int’l 470 Ladies Class. My helmsman was Ma
Lay Myaing and we practiced regularly and rather extensively
in Inya Lake. But as we were about ready to proceed to
sea training camp at Ngapali Sea Beach, due to the advice
of some astrologer concerning her safety, my helmsman
decided to abandon sea training as well as participation
in the SEA Games. I was really disappointed and demoralised.
Only with the constant encouragements by U Thein Tun,
U Moe Myint and Ko Sando, I accompanied them to Ngapali
Sea Training Camp and took part in training in the single
handed Laser Class together with Naing Moe Aye. |
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This was
my first experience sailing in the in open sea and although
I believe I was a good swimmer, I felt somewhat nervous
especially in the beginning but gradually became used-to
the sea after several days. It was completely different
from sailing in the Inya Lake and it was required for
me to gain ample knowledge regarding tide and current
situations and their related effects. After sea training
at Ngapali I came to like the single handed Laser Dinghy
therefore continued to train in the Laser with Naing Moe
Aye.
In the First
Myanmar National Sports Festival held in 1992, I stood
first in the Laser Class. Subsequently, I was selected
to take part in 1993 17th SEA Games in Singapore. We had
training this time at Chaungtha Beach. |
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My colleague
Naing Moe Aye was also selected for Mens Laser Class and
since he had gained quite a lot of experience from the
SEA Games in the Philippines, he taught me a lot of tactics
especially in Laser sailing. Still, we did not have the
opportunity to have specialist foreign coaches.
The most noticeable progress
& development in terms of Myanmar Sailing was with
the first introduction of the Optimist Class (OP). This
was U Moe Myint's creation with the idea to have sailing
introduced to youngsters at a very tender age. Since the
onset of this program he supported the program in every
way and sponsored extensively to firmly establishment
the OP Class. U Moe Myint and the founders of the class
went through many difficulties. Since the affordability
for fibre boats was not there yet, many boats were built
locally made of wood. Some young sailors who did not feel
like using them had to be explained, encouraged and convinced
that timber boats are as good as fibre boats. Then, the
first foreign coach from Denmark, Claus Graugaard, was
invited to join us at Chaungtha Sea Training again with
the kind support of U Moe Myint. The Danish Coach not
only trained the OP’s but also taught myself and
Naing Moe Aye, in tacking and gybing lessons on the Laser
in his spare time. Optimist sailors, although they were
young, performed enthusiastically and with confidence
in the sea facing the hardship of winds and waves. It
was an admiring sight to see such young sailors in the
open sea in their tiny little boats, and one cannot ignore
and must simply appreciate their outstanding courage.
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