Puerto Galera Race 2019 – HKPN start today
by Guy Nowell 16 Apr 2019 17:10 BST
RHKYC Puerto Galera Race 2019. Sitka, Generations, Darling © RHKYC / Guy Nowell
Mother Nature deals the cards, and you just have to play the hand you are given. For the three starters in the HKPN division of the inaugural RHKYC Puerto Galera Race it was a wet one, with practically no breeze. The sort of mucky weather that is precisely the reason why sailors go south at this time of year.
For the first time, this year the RHKYC has decided to send the offshore fleet away on two starts – 16th and 17th April. The race to the Philippines (whicheven one it is that year) always blows off from the RHKYC Club Line in the middle of Victoria Harbour in the week before Easter, with an intended Saturday or Sunday finish. This year, the inaugural race to Puerto Galera started with the three Hong Kong Performance Numbers (HKPN) boats on Tuesday and another 14 IRC entries starting tomorrow. It’s good for safety, as it compresses the fleet, and it’s good for socials, as everyone should arrive at the other end a little more closely together.
Today’s start was at 1120h, and it really was a ditch-crawling effort to get out of the harbour. Rain varied from horrible to nasty. At 1230h race control fielded a phone call (with boats still very much in the HK area)… “Can we please have a short finish at Po Toi?” Po Toi is the location of a seafood restaurant very popular with Hong Kong sailors, about 12nm from the start line! Since then, conditions have improved, with Sitka leading the fleet some 68nm out of Hong Kong, and cracking along at 9kts (1200h midnight).
At the Skippers’ Briefing last night it was announced that in the event of fickle breeze at the other end of the course, a virtual finish line would be employed. From Limit Point north of Punta Fuego, across to Ambil Island, the ‘Limit Point Line’ will be invoked in the event there just not sufficient breeze to get everyone home in an appropriate elapsed time. In such a case, competitors will be required to take their own times, and will be assesssed on their YellowBrick positions as well. (See https://www.hkpuertogalerarace.com/yb-tracker) for 30-min updates.
Socials will take place at Elizabeth’s Hideaway in Puerto Galera, in one of “The Most Beautiful Bays in the World” (and that’s official). Prizegiving on Monday 22 April.
In the meantime, please may we have some breeze starting at about 1100h tomorrow (warning signal 1110h) for the start of the IRC division?
www.rhkyc.org.hk
www.hkpuertogalerarace.com
http://yb.tl/HKPG2019
https://www.hkpuertogalerarace.com/yb-tracker