Hong Kong to Hainan Race - Notice of Race released and online entry open
by RHKYC Media 11 Jul 2018 17:05 BST
Hong Kong to Hainan Race 2016 © RHKYC / Guy Nowell
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club has released the Notice of Race and opened online entry for the 2018 Hong Kong to Hainan Race which will start on 18 October.
The Race takes competitors on a 390nm historically downwind passage to Sanya, on the southern China island of Hainan. Sanya, known as the "Hawaii of the East" is a great finish location for a holiday or as a transit point for yachts intending to continue on to other sailing events around the Asia-Pacific region. The event has been sanctioned as a recognised qualifier for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2018.
2018 will mark the 11th edition of the race which was established in 1997. The Hong Kong to Hainan Race is the only Category 1 offshore race to finish in the People's Republic of China. The event has fostered the growth of sailing between China and Hong Kong SAR. The inaugural event was run on 27 December 1997; having been incorporated as a part of the handover celebrations for the return of Hong Kong to China. Similarly the start from Macau in 1999 formed part of the Chinese celebrations to commemorate the Macau SAR handover.
The Race has been held biennially since 2012 and the current race record of 23h 31m 52s was set in 2016 by Seng Huang Lee's 100ft Super Maxi, Scallywag. With the event being open to both monohulls and multihull, the 2018 race record will be closely watched. The race record has been broken in the last three editions, including in 2014 by Karl Kwok's Team Beau Geste and in 2012 by Sam Chan's FreeFire.
The start line will be in front of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Kellett Island Clubhouse with the start signal sounding at 1120hrs.
The race is organised by Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in cooperation with the Bureau of Culture, Broadcast & TV, Publication and Sports of the Sanya Municipal Government, with the finish hosted by Serenity Marina in Sanya, Hainan.
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