J/109 & J/145 Earn Silver In Rolex China Sea Race
(Hong Kong, China)- The 50th anniversary of the Rolex China Sea
Race that started April 4th was not the fastest one on record, not by a
long shot. This 565nm Category 1 Offshore Race run under the auspices
of RORC takes competitors from Hong Hong, China to Subic Bay in the
Philippines. The two J/Teams from the Royal Hong Kong YC sailed
incredibly well. The J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailed by Nick Southward from
RHKYC managed a 2nd Overall in IRC Racing 2 Class and 7th overall in IRC
Fleet against some pretty stiff competition. And, the J/145c REDEYE
skippered by Wayne Thompson in IRC Cruising Class finished a
well-deserved 2nd overall and was 9th boat overall line honors against a
hot fleet of large racing boats-- from the Maxi 90 foot canting keeler
GENUINE RISK to trio of modified TP52s.
The
race began under near-perfect conditions for a start in Victoria
Harbour, just off the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. Good Easterly breeze
at about 12-15 knots gave the 26 participating boats the push they
needed to get the fleet out of the harbor-- often not an easy thing to
do. RHKYC Sailing Manager Alex Johnston said, “The fleet got away very
cleanly with no boats over the line early, and for a race start of this
size we had plenty of breeze, so from a start point of view, one really
couldn’t ask for anything better.”At 12:10 the first warning signal rang out as the boats crisscrossed the Harbour beneath towering skyscrapers and in front of the RHKYC searching for breeze. After the start, the fleet hugged the Kowloon side heading out of the Harbour. The first boats were out of view from the RHKYC by 12:35, as they continued across Junk Bay and out past the Po Toi islands into the South China Sea.
The
initial weather forecasts indicated that it might favour the smaller
boats in the fleet but crews seemed doubtful about a quick trip to the
finish. Said one skipper about the conditions, “I think the first 24
hours will be fast sailing upwind. It looks like the wind will die down
but hopefully we will have some downwind sailing on the light air later
in the race.” Another echoed a similar sentiment, "What we see
regarding weather is a very complex standoff between the Northeast and
the Southeast monsoons, which means the race will be very tactical and
very challenging.” As it turns out, these observations were somewhat
prophetic. Not a fast race, but a steady one with a few stops and
starts. In the end, the fleet was treated to a reasonably nice passage
of the China Sea to the Philippines. The Subic Bay YC rolled out the
red carpet for the crews, with terrific festivities, entertainment and
an extraordinary feast for all to share some mighty sea stories after
the race. For more Rolex China Sea Race sailing information.
