Sailing @ the DBS Marina Regatta

I had never ridden on a sailboat before, so I had no idea what to expect, when I was given the opportunity to do so at the DBS Marina Regatta.

DBS had actually invited me to try out the sailing activity, which was essentially about boarding a sailboat and enjoying the cool breeze from the water, while sailing. I was also given the chance to helm the boat for a short while.

The Regatta took place last weekend on 26 and 27 May, and it will be taking place again this coming weekend, 2 and 3 June.

Billed as giving people the opportunity to experience amazing views of the Marina Bay, the DBS sailing programme is one of the regatta activities that is available for free to the public. Each sailboat can accommodate between four to eight pax each and slots are to be assigned on a first come, first serve basis.

Having never experienced sailing before, I must say that I had been both nervous and excited at the same time, when I headed over to the Pontoon beside Customs House at Marina Bay, where the sailing activity had been set to begin.

We signed our indemnity forms and then we were given a life-vest each. After that, we headed down the steps to the Pontoon to board the boat.

When I was waiting at the Pontoon, I got a pleasant surprise – Joseph Schooling, Singapore’s swimming gold medallist at the Olympic Games, had just finished his sailing too, and was making his way off the rubber dinghy that was being used to transport passengers between the sailboat and the pontoon.

I took the chance to get a photo with Schooling.

Soon after, I got onto the rubber dinghy which took us to the sailboat, located about five to ten minutes away.

On the dinghy, I could already feel the breeze blowing onto me and the feeling was quite amazing. At that point, I found myself wondering what it would feel like on the sailboat.

Soon enough, it was time to transfer onto the sailboat. To do so, we had to swing both legs across at the same time, in a sitting position. We were instructed not to have one leg in the dinghy and one leg in the sailboat, for safety reasons. The instructions were quite easy to follow.

In the sailboat, I admit I was a bit nervous at first about the experience as the boat was rocking quite a bit in the water, but after a few minutes, I got used to it and settled down.

At first, I was also quite scared of the frames connecting the heavy sail to the boat, which kept on swinging from the left to the right and vice versa, as the boat was moving. This sail had looked as though it could certainly cause a serious injury if it hit me on the head.

It was quite eye opening though, as I had previously expected the sail to be rather light, so finding out that the frames were so heavy yet so mobile, was relatively interesting.

Once I got more comfortable with the boat, I began to enjoy the feeling of sitting in the sailboat. Seeing the beautiful Marina Bay and local attractions such as the Marina Bay Sands, Fullerton Merlion and the Esplanade, from the vantage point of the boat was pretty amazing and I must say that I took plenty of photos. I have to add that this is definitely a photo angle that you really don’t get very often.

When the opportunity arose, I also tried my hand at helming the boat. I realised that the sailing boat was a lot more responsive and way speedier than I had originally thought. For instance, a simple movement of the steering wheel would lead to the boat moving quite fast.

In my time at helming the boat, I also learnt how to watch out for obstacles such as buoys and other boats in the water and how to swerve to avoid these. It was all rather interesting and my sailboat experience at the steering wheel had passed by all too quickly.

It was also great to be able to catch a DragonBoating race at the Regatta from our vantage point on the sailboat too. This had provided a rather unique angle to watch the race, completely free from obstructions and was quite enjoyable too.

My time in the sailboat went by much faster than I had expected, and before I knew it, we were asked to board the rubber dinghy again to head back to the pontoon.

I have to say that I had really enjoyed my experience in one of the sailboats, at the DBS Marina Regatta.

If you too would like to to experience sailing for yourself, registrations will be taking place on-site at a first-come-first-serve basis at the Information Counter at the DBS Marina Regatta, Promontory @ Marina Bay, on 2 June from 2pm-4pm and 3 June from 2pm-6pm. But the number of slots are limited, so do hurry.

For those who are not really into water sports though, there is plenty more to see and do at the DBS Marina Regatta this coming weekend and these include some of the following.

Battle Bay Extreme

Singapore and South East Asia’s largest land and water based obstacle course, this is designed to test your limits and will to push through the challenges in order to come out on top.

Catering to fitness fanatics and adventure junkies, slots to participate in this are still available from S$8 onwards per pax and registration for Battle Bay Extreme can be purchased on-site.

I was initially keen to try out the Battle Bay Extreme last weekend but because it had been raining, I decided to give this a miss as the rain made the ground rather muddy. Perhaps if it’s not raining next weekend, I might finally decide to give this a go!

Yoga and Fitness Classes

For those who are not into obstacle courses, Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness are also bringing a series of free workouts to the DBS Marina Regatta and these range from relaxing sessions to soothe the mind and soul such as Yin Yoga and Vinyasa, to adrenaline pumping workouts guaranteed to make you sweat, such as Tabata, Body Combat and Circuit training.

Busking By the Bay

Organised in a collaboration between DBS Bank and BandWagon, buskers are set to showcase their talent at the DBS Marina Regatta whilst living out their dreams of performing in public, and at the same time, providing vibrancy and entertainment to those who are checking out the Regatta.

The top buskers are also set to receive artist development prizes sponsored by DBS, to further fuel their passions.

The buskers will be roaming around from 1 to 2 June between 5.30pm-8.30pm and on 3 June from 3pm onwards at the Bay area.

Creators Market

Brought to you in partnership with Mahorta, Terra and Bettr Barista, you can find out more about green living and holistic wellness at the Creators Market, such as learning how to make your own superfood snacks and acai bowls.

Healthy meals and snacks are also available for sale too here, such as poke bowls, acai bowls and yummy tacos. I particularly enjoy the acai bowls because these are not only delicious, but also healthy.

ArtBox

As well, with ArtBox, a popular market originally from Thailand that supports local maker-creators retailing everything from beauty, fashion, food and art, taking place just around the corner at the Bayfront Event Space, there is really lots to see and do next weekend at Marina Bay.

In fact, following my sailing experience, I had a quick peep over at the ArtBox market and despite the large crowds and some overpriced food with small portions, I think that this hipster market is still worth checking out, if you would like to soak up the market vibe and the atmosphere, and do you part to help the less fortunate by supporting social enterprises at the same time.

At the ArtBox, I thought there were some interesting types of food, and these had included rainbow cotton candy, charcoal ice cream wrapped with gold flakes and cartoon character shaped paos.

At ArtBox, there are more than 20 stalls set up by social enterprises from across the region, and these purpose-driven businesses are supported by the DBS Foundation, which champions social enterprises in Asia. So you can do you part for good by visiting ArtBox, as well.

Bay Passport Games

To stand a chance to win yourself attractive prizes such as a Porsche Design HUAWEI Mate 10, Scoot Flight Tickets to Berlin, Maldives and Kuching and many more, you simply need to get a game card from the Info counter at the DBS Marina Regatta and participate in a series of games. The games are all free for the public to play.

I know for sure that if I had not already booked my flight tickets for the Berlin Marathon in September, I would definitely have put my name down for the games – in order to try and snag those Berlin flight tickets for myself. But as it stands… I’m nice so I’ll give you the chance instead!