WHEN he got into trouble out at sea, it appeared that no one noticed.
Although he was not far from almost 200 boats taking part in a regatta, no one came to his rescue.
The race went on.
His motionless body was discovered on the beach at Pasir Ris Park yesterday afternoon. His boat was close to the shore.
The man, who was in his 50s, had set out to sail alone from the Changi Sailing Club (CSC) towards Pasir Ris Park.
He was believed to have been watching his teenage son, who was taking part in the regatta organised by the club.
SON WAS UNAWARE
His son finished the race, unaware of the tragedy unfolding nearby.
CSC manager Edward Yow told The New Paper that the man, an architect, had been a member of the club for almost 20 years and was an experienced sailor.
Said Mr Yow: 'This is a completely shocking and unexpected tragedy. We have no idea how the accident happened. The club found out only when we received a call from the police after 2pm.'
This is the first time in the club's 71-year history that such an accident has happened, said Mr Yow.
The race - the SingTel Optimist Open Championship - started at 11am and ended around 3.30pm.
Mr Yow said the man was believed to have taken his Byte, a 4m-long sailboat, out to sea when the race started.
The race had some 178 participants aged 7 to 15, members and guests of the sailing club.
They were to complete a 7km course on boats called Optimists, which measure about 2.3m in length.
Said Mr Yow: 'Many of the parents were at Pasir Ris Park to get a good view of the race.
'I believe this man took his boat out to watch his youngest boy's progress in the race.'
But the man got into trouble soon after the race started.
CAPSIZED SAILBOAT
The police received a call about a capsized sailboat at 12.45pm.
When they arrived soon after, they found the man lying motionless on the shore. He was dressed in a grey polo T-shirt, dark-coloured shorts and sandals, said a police spokesman.
His white boat was spotted close to shore.
The man was wearing a life vest.
Efforts to revive him proved futile. He was pronounced dead around 2.15pm.
The spokesman said the police are investigating the case as one of unnatural death.
Mr Yow said the man was married with three teenage sons.
When The New Paper arrived at Pasir Ris Beach at 4pm yesterday, we saw a woman and a teenage boy being escorted by policemen to a police tent, where the man's body had apparently been placed. The woman, believed to be the man's next-of-kin, was hysterical.
She was screaming and appeared inconsolable.
The boy seemed calm, and kept a comforting arm around her throughout.
It was not immediately clear how the man had died.
But why didn't anyone notice him when he was in the vicinity of the race? Were there enough officials and rescue boats around?
Mr Yow said there were 12 safety and rescue boats monitoring the race.
And all the sailors in the race had been properly trained and were competent.
Said Mr Yow: 'During a race, we take very stringent measures to ensure safety. Usually, we have one safety boat and supervisor to every 12 sailboats.
'And it's an MPA (Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore) regulation that everyone must be in life vests.'
Mr Yow could not say how far away the man was from the race.
CROWD WAS UNAWARE
When The New Paper visited the sailing club around 4.30pm, members were still unaware of the accident.
A parent, who declined to be named, appeared surprised.
'Really? I have no idea. I thought the race finished smoothly.'
It wasn't until Mr Yow announced the postponement of the prize-giving ceremony that the crowd was told that an accident had occurred.
But no further details were given to members at the club.
Said Mr Yow: 'We don't want to give out too many details as we have to respect the privacy of the family.
'We really don't know what happened out there, and we don't want to speculate.
'But this has been a most unfortunate turn of events.'
Source
Capsized sailboat found near shore 
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