Royal Hong Kong YC Tomes Cup Presented by Old Mutual - Preview
by Koko Mueller, RHKYC 26 Jan 2016 22:11 GMT
30 January 2016
Tomes Cup 2015 © Guy Nowell / RHKYC
The Tomes Cup pursuit race takes place this Saturday 30 January in Victoria Harbour. Organised by Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and presented by Old Mutual International, the race is the third constituent event of the Old Mutual Top Dog Trophy Series.
The Tomes Cup is a pursuit race, which is different to normal yacht racing in that competitors are given staggered start times under RHKATI handicap, ie. the slowest boats start first and then the faster boats set off in pursuit, with the time delay between classes of boats being determined from their handicaps. If all boats are sailed equally well, they should (in theory) all finish at the same time.
The race is held in the eastern area of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, taking in Shau Kei Wan, Tai Koo Shing, Kowloon Bay and Hung Hom and is expected to attract around 60 competitors from Hong Kong's one-design fleets and Big Boat classes.
The winner receives the beautiful silver Tomes Cup, on which the inscription reads "Sugar Refiners Cup won by Naomi April 1st 1880". The trophy was donated to RHKYC in the late 1960s by Mrs Tomes, the widow of a member of the Tomes family of the old Hong Kong firm of Shewan Tomes & Co., Ltd. (now part of the Hutchison Group) and has been awarded for a pursuit race ever since.
The annual Top Dog Trophy Series is designed to identify the most successful helm over a variety of pursuit race courses and conditions. The current series includes the results for the Around the Island Race (15 November 2015), the Lipton Trophy presented by Old Mutual (21 November 2015), this Saturday's event and the HKRNVR Memorial Vase presented by Old Mutual which will be staged on 30 April 2016.
Full details of the Old Mutual Top Dog Trophy Series can be found on the RHKYC website at www.rhkyc.org.hk/topdogtrophy.aspx