RHKYC China Coast Regatta wraps up
by RHKYC Media 13 Oct 2019 11:34 BST
11-16 October 2019
2019 China Coast Regatta © Guy Nowell / RHKYC
China Coast Regatta 2019 wrapped up today after three days of racing was squeezed into two (thanks to a windless Day 2 which forced racing to be cancelled).
Luckily with the arrival of northeasterly monsoon, an average of 6 to 7kts of breeze greeted the sailors today as they reached the race track which was located at the southeast of Lamma Island.
32 boats came out for racing and the IRC Racer classes sailed two windward/leeward to begin with. As the day progressed the breeze built to around 10 to 12 kts with sunshine and blue skies, presenting competitors with a superb afternoon for island racing. The islands courses took the fleet on a beat towards a windward mark and reaching to an ocean mark before rounding Beaufort or Sung Kong and finishing off at Bluff Head near Stanley.
For IRC Racer 0, Shawn Kang's Ker 46+ Alpha+ took two wins today, putting herself just one point ahead of Sam Chan's Free Fire.
Although Yuye Yan's Seawolf did not take any wins today, she was still four points ahead of main competitor Mandrake III in IRC Racer 1 division. Ellian Perch's Cape 31, Orion DYP, which made the journey to Hong Kong from South Africa, ended up fifth place in their division..
There was tough competition in the IRC Racer 2 division; Herman Wong's Kiasu performed well in the final islands race where they lifted the division first place only one point ahead of Noel Chan and Denis Ma's Rampage. Winning the final Islands race, Blackjack moved into third place ahead of Juggerknot due to a count back win. In IRC Racer 3, Nick Southward's Whiskey Jack emerged victorious one point ahead of Mei Han Chung's Dexter II.
Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen was pleased that despite losing one day of racing due to the weather, the final day was blessed with good wind and the race management team still managed to give each IRC Racer division six races to make up the regatta.
HKPN were given one windward / leeward and an islands course of around 10nm around Beaufort Island. Thomas Wong and Patrick Kwan's Ding Dong took two bullets and the overall winner in HKPN division.
IRC Premier Cruising sailed two 10nm island courses which took them around Beaufort Island. Their second race of the day was started to the south of Stanley. Peter Churchouse's Warwick Custom Moonblue 2 came out on top winning all three island races of the regatta.
With all the racing wrapped up, the fleets made their way back to Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Middle Island base for refreshments on the hardstand. The overall prizegiving will be held on Monday 14 October at Kellett Island.
More information at chinacoastraceweek.com