Singapore Lost – to the Cruising Sailor?

by Des Ryan on 13 May 2008 As reported by our Asia Editor Guy Nowell recently, Singapore's recent Boat Asia 2008 , held at the new Keppel Bay marina was blessed by hot sunshine and blue skies, and judged successful.

However, avid sailors regret the passing of the era when large numbers of sailing yachts made Singapore a stop on their way through Asia

Marina at Keppel Bay is a very attractive location – a deep water harbour that used to be the Keppel Island shipyard, with waterfront condominiums just across the water on the site of the former dry docks, high-rise apartments on the drawing board and Phase Two of the marina to be completed by next year.

Herman Ho, of TMX Show Productions who organised the event, says they will be running Boat Asia 2009 at Keppel. 'We are well satisfied with attendance this year, and Marina at Keppel Bay havs promised us that Phase Two of the marina will be completed before next year' said Ho, 'and that means we will have more, and bigger, boats here in 2009.'

But the lot of the cruising sailor, according to local sailor Paul Rice, is getting worse. 'There are very few cruising boats now here , and there are fewer and fewer Singapore sailing craft . None of these new marinas have repair or haulout facilities.

It's also hard to find sailing lessons for the keen sailor. The three new marinas are residential areas with plenty of restaurants, and sailing as a sport is on the back burner, with little in the way of sailing occurring.

There is much to dissuade the cruising sailor – or even the local one. According to Rice, the Singapore port authority also uses the excuse of port security and terrorist problems to curb and restrict pleasure craft movements in the port . 'Visiting craft can only stop at marinas,' he says, 'and need to have a transponder onboard , and inform the authorities 6 hours in advance for all movement in Singapore waters , with dates and times of the trips.'

Marinas are also much more expensive than those just over the border – Sebanna Cove Malaysia may be getting most of the business that could be going to Singapore.

Guy Nowell agrees. 'Bottom line is cost.' he says. 'Singapore is viewed as very expensive by the long-distance cruisers who are attracted by cheap - and sometimes even free - berthing in places like Kota Kinabalu and Miri.'

While the potential for sailing boats is limited by cost – and maybe the lack of wind – the potential for powerboats is good, because as one boat owner noted. 'We can go out for an hour or two and be back in time for drinks and dinner!'

Changi Sailing Club is still the most popular venue for the keen sailor, even though they have only moorings.

Rice, who moved to live in Singapore five years ago, agrees. ' I am a very keen sailor,with a 42ft aluminium cruising catamaran' he says, 'We looked around at marinas , most of which are only a third full , and with very little real facilities , except food and gyms etc . Changi Sailing Club, on the other hand, has friendly people and many sailing activities.

However, there may be other reasons why Singapore is not the favourite it used to be.
First, when the Malacca Straits were viewed as pirate invested waters, Singapore was viewed as a safe haven. Now that the authorities of Indonesia Singapore and Malaysia have combined to curb piracy attacks on cargo ships (last week only the second attack in the last three months), and there hasn't been a pirate attack on leisure sailing vessels for over 14 years, Singapore is just not as necessary as it was.

Second, cruising yachts typically seek the greenest, cleanest and most natural of environments. Heavily populated Singapore, in spite of its reputation for strong cleanliness laws, sometimes suffers from bad marine pollution, not likely to encourage the visiting sailor to stay long.