San Fernando Race at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club - Start
by RHKYC Media 27 Mar 2013 10:57 GMT
27 March 2013
At the pre-race skippers' briefing, Hong Kong Observatory offered much in the way of cloud, rain and squally thunderstorms for the start of the 19th San Fernando Race, however Race Officer Simon Boyde cheated the wind gods yet again and, with a band of rain threatening from the West, managed to find 6 knots of NE and an ebbing tide to send the 24 strong fleet off in front of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.
Keen to get back home to Subic Bay, TP52 Standard Insurance Centennial had a text book start, ahead of Smith 72 Antipodes. The rest of the fleet made its way sedately through the Harbour to Lei Yue Mun gap, where the TP52 squeezed through in 10kts without stalling, leaving the rest of the fleet to bide their time in a Junk Bay hole before logging on to the breeze again.
The smaller IRC boats also had to bear the frustration of sitting becalmed, before EFG Bank Mandrake and Red Kite II were able to recommence their quest for IRC glory. IRC Overall will be a tough prize to predict, with Zanzibar keen to replicate her Rolex China Sea Race 2012 success, and Red Kite II fired up to make it three SFR's in a row, however it's 'early days' and the race can often be decided by the diurnal breeze as the boats hit the land shadow of the Philippines.
By the time Standard Insurance Centennial was past Shek O, Antipodes and Peninsula Signal 8 had picked up the chase and all boats had been piped through Lei Yue Mun, with Diamond Queen, Wonderwall, Sea Monkey and Allegro guarding the rear.
Supported by the Philippines Department of Tourism and proving 'it's more fun in the Philippines!' the race ends in San Fernando, Luzon Province and all the crews will be looking forward to the blue seas and skies at the end of the race. However, with no boat currently averaging over 5kts that end could be some days away.