(Xiamen, China)- The China Club Challenge Match, founded in 2005, sailed
its 15th edition in the waters off Xiamen, China. The thirty-eight
teams that sailed in the event, once again, were participants in the
largest one-design keelboat regatta in all of Asia, sailing in a fleet
of International J/80 one-design class sailboats.
Day One
On the first day, the fleet was treated to genuine “champagne sailing”
conditions, with winds ranging from 8-15 knots throughout the day with
relatively flat waters and a burning sun out all day long. This was a
little bit unusual, as the tropical depression to the east of Taiwan
moving towards Korea, should have sucked all the air out… but, no one
was complaining. Conditions were so good that the regatta PRO decided to
go for the extra race beyond the standard three, a move that was to
prove invaluable later in the regatta.
The racing was close, especially on the start line with thirty-eight
boats on the water. The on the water judging team of John Rountree,
Wayne Boberg and Roger Purdy (all NZL) and Alistair Skinner (GBR) were
kept busy, primarily with ‘early prods’ at the top mark, with some teams
launching their bowsprit well in advance of any gennaker hoisting
activity.
The one dark cloud of day one was a port starboard incident in race 3
that left the team from Xiamen City Career University (the innocent
party) with a sizable hole close enough to the waterline to make their
boat unsafe to sail for the balance of the regatta. With the RRS not
permitting redress beyond that of their first two races in a 12-race
regatta there was little the judges could do to ease their situation.
Having said that, their positions in those first two races was not
lining them up for qualification for the later match racing.
Day Two
Friday produced more of the same along with the second general recall of
the event with the, now flooding, tide swept not just a few, but close
to most, of the competitors into an OCS situation… too many to identify.
However, such was the patience of the PRO that the Black Flag stayed
firmly in the flag roll, but the rest of the regatta was firmly placed
under “I” flag starts.
One or two teams were starting to stretch ahead on the leaderboard. Why?
Principally, because those teams chose to start in clear air rather
than join the big fight for the favored end of the line.
Day Three
By Saturday, the weather system off to the west was starting to make
itself felt; not with strong winds but a light gradient breeze. As a
result, that meant that later in the day, the racing had to be cancelled
as the opposing, light sea breeze cancelled out the offshore,
diminishing, gradient winds.
As the boats were being towed back in to the hard, several boats noticed
huge masses of fish boiling near the surface. It turns out, it was a
small family group of Chinese White Dolphins (sometimes known as “Pink
Dolphins”) that were forming their amazing “bubble nets” to herd the
fish, and were then surging vertically up through them to feed.
To put things in perspective, estimates put their total population at
about 10% of the iconic Giant Panda with less than 100 in the Taiwan
Straits area and another 200 or so in the Pearl River Delta. Therefore,
to spot them at all was a rare privilege. The fact that so much fuss is
made of the Panda, and so little of these beautiful creatures, is
indicative of how little attention is paid to our oceans.
Day Four
For the final day, looking out over the water didn’t produce a lot of
hope as the fleet headed slowly out towards the racing area. So, it
proved to be, with the boats drifting further and further down the,
still ebbing, tide instead of staying close to the committee boat.
The PRO tried to get a race off, but with less than half the fleet
crossing the starting line before the 4 minute cut off it was going to
have a dramatic effect on the results with a “fleet +1” staring many
teams in the face. Thankfully, the gradient breeze shut down completely,
with those boats that had actually made the start with them virtually
parking up only 1/3 of the way up the first beat and with no chance to
make the 1st mark time limit. Three toots and an ‘N’ Flag brought
proceedings to a halt.
Then, there was an agonizing wait of almost exactly 3 hours in a baking
sun, as the clock ticked down towards the time limit at 1400 hours. The
breeze finally kicked in at 1330 hrs, building to 10-12 kts, with little
phasing and almost directly down tide. With little time left to re-set
the course, there was fair amount of committee boat bias (starboard
end), resulting in a couple of teams doing turns. It proved to be worth
the wait, with one of the best races of the regatta to round things off
for the enthusiastic sailors.
However, it isn’t just the racing with this regatta that makes the China
Cup so popular. The social event side of it is simply epic! Three of
the four evenings are well-organized with great food, wine & beer,
capped off with the prize-giving for each day’s winners.
In the end, the three teams that emerged at the top of the leaderboard
were, as follows; 1st- Shanghai Noah’s Sailing Club, 2nd- Xiamen Hai
Yang Xue Yuan/Daren Sailing, and 3rd- Wan Hang Sailing.
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