(Hong Kong, China)- The Royal Hong Kong YC's season long offshore series
of races includes many challenges for its sailors around the
archipelago of southern China. The China Cup International Regatta is a
series of both inshore and short offshore races in and around the
island of Hong Kong. The event not only promotes the sailing culture
& sailing sports among the masses in China, but the Marine Culture
Development Forum gathers influential people from the marine industry
all over the world to share their achievements and experience.The sailing itself can be quite challenging, especially the first race. The 34-miles of the Simpson Passage Race kept competitors working hard until the very finish, on day one of the China Cup. After the skippers’ briefing at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, the competitors in the 91 teams expected moderate to strong winds during the race from Hong Kong to Shenzhen in mainland China. And while those winds did materialize, the race had a strange and unexpected sting in its tail. After the IRC division start, the wind was gusting up to 18 knots although there were big shifts and holes in the breeze, and a large swell that saw the boats slamming into waves on port tack. Light airs characterized the near windless final few miles of the course with some boats failing to make it through the finish before the wind shut down again, giving them an early evening drift into the harbour.
The
four days of windward-leeward races and the Audi Around the Island Race
brought every kind of wind, from the strong start and drifting finish
of the Simpson Marine Passage Race on day one, to the high-speed
excitement of day 3, when masts broke and boats ran aground. Although
more than 130 boats wanted to enter this year’s regatta, space
restrictions in the marina kept entries to just 91. From a standing
start five years ago, the China Cup International Regatta is really
beginning to make its mark, not just in Asia but throughout the sailing
community around the world.The J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailed by Nick Southward from Royal Hong Kong YC sailed one of their best series yet in this Asian offshore series. Nick's team overcame multiple obstacles, including capricious sailing conditions, to finish second in IRC 3 Class with a consistent score of 2-5-2-2-8-3-4-4- for a net score of 22 pts.
A special note- "congratulations" also go out to J/133 owner Rick Pointon and crew from Hong Kong for their performance in the China Cup Championship sailed in old-fashioned 40 ft sloops. Instead of sailing their beautiful, fast J/133 with their famous yellow jerseys, they elected to take a shot at one-design racing and finished 2nd overall to a past 470 World Champion! Sailing photo credits- Stefano Gattini/Studio Borlenghi For more China Cup International Regatta sailing results
