SINGAPORE – Local sailors Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low continued their encouraging start to the season as they booked their spot in the series final of the Sailing World Cup (SWC) with a ninth-place finish in round two of the three-part SWC series.

The result meant that the Singaporean 49erFX pair were the top Asian finishers — the next-best Asian team was Japan, which came in 10th — in the competition, which is one of three Olympic-class major regattas on the sailing calendar.

Apart from the windy conditions at the competition venue in Hyeres, France, Lim and Low had to contend with a top-class field of competitors, including Brazil’s Olympic gold medallists Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze.

However, Lim said that going through the tough experience has brought her and Low closer together, something she believes will stand them in good stead in their quest to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“This was quite a tough event for us,” said Lim. “We had to overcome quite a fair bit of challenges and there were many elements that were hard for us but I am satisfied with the way that we pushed through them to improve day by day.

“More importantly, the event brought (national skiff coach) Fernando Kuo, Cecilia and I closer together, and now we are comfortable (with going) fast, regardless of the conditions.

“This is a big stepping stone for us, and we are very excited (about qualifying) for the SWC Final (in Santander, Spain, in June).”

Lim and Low’s achievement comes on the back of their third-place finish at the 48th Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia — also known as the Princess Sofia Trophy — at the start of last month.

Despite their recent good results, Low insists that they will not take anything for granted. “Since the start of the year, our focus has been very much on improvement and training,” she said. “When we enter these regattas, through our training, we know what we need to do.

“Results are great, but at this stage in the campaign, we want to see improvement in our processes, in doing the right things out there.”

Singapore Sailing Federation high performance manager Chua Tan Ching agreed.“I would say the important thing here is the long-term programme that we have in place and that it is moving according to plan,” he said. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but this is certainly a good step in the right direction.”