Volvo China Coast Regatta 2016 – it’s all about the scenery

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 25 Oct 2016 In the end, and just as the photography department had all but given up hope, the Volvo China Coast Regatta 2016 wrapped up with an islands course through the middle of the Ninepins group and all the way on to East Ninepin, and then back via Steep Island to a finish near Tung Lung Chau. Hong Kong sailors know these rocky features well – especially those who sail regularly out of Port Shelter – and visitors are always amazed when they see the basalt columns and the sheer cliffs for the first time. Sailing through here is the party piece of the Volvo China Coast Regatta.

First of all there was a windward-leeward race to get the numbers up (five in three days. The weather has not really been very kind in terms of wind strength). Three times round for the IRC 0 and 1 divisions, and twice for the remainder. There was no AP, the sun was shining, and 8 kts of breeze from 070 was enough to send everyone away on time.

An X flag after the IRC 0 start brought series leader Zannekin (Marcel Leidts) scurrying back to the line, but actually Sam Chan’s Free Fire that was the OCS offender, and they took rather longer to make the turn and head back for a restart, penalising themselves heavily on the process.

Three boats over the line in IRC 1 – Mandrake III, Black Baza, Straight Up. There was no hesitation on the returns, but when you are sitting at the top of the table (Mandrake III) on equal points with the enemy (Black Baza) and leading by virtue of a win in the last race… well, press just a little harder. This Mandrake succeeded in doing, taking the first race of the day while Black Baza recorded fourth, her worst result of the regatta.

IRC Premier had Shawn Keng’s Lighthorse, a Beneteau 50, keeping the score sheet tidy with a fourth win from four races. This is a crew that has improved by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years, and word on the dock is that a 46’ racing boat is on the way. Extra Light Horse, maybe?

A quick adjustment of the top mark, and the remaining divisions headed off in the sunshine – Simon Wong driving Dexter (Lowell Chang) took up the cudgels again and pushed Whiskey Jack (Nick Southward) into second place yet again, while Kiasu cruised round the HKPN course to score their fourth consecutive bullet.

It was a gloomy start for the islands race that followed, but the sun reappeared just as the back markers in the fleet reached East Ninepin, allowing all but the very fast finishers an enjoyable spinnaker leg down and across to Steep Island before reaching to the finish. Sure, if you don’t know Hong Kong waters, all the names mean very little, so here’s the short version: it was a 14nm trek through the fringes of a supervolcano, and a chance to sail in some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the region. Phang Nga Bay is cool – this is, too.

There were no surprises when Scallywag took line honours for the scenic race. “This has been a good opportunity to tune the boat for light air,” said skipper David Witt. “The long leg to Hainan (2 November) will be much more to our liking when it comes to racing, but we always enjoy a visit to Hong Kong.”

For the record, here are the winners after three days and six races (in the case of IRC 0, 1, 2, and 3) or five races (IRC Premier, HKPN):

IRC Racer 0: Zannekin (Marcel Leidts) 4*, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 (8)
IRC Racer 1: Mandrake III (Burns/Kinmonth) 1, 5*, 3, 1, 1, 1 (7)
IRC Racer 2: Hero Racing Team (Tiffany Koo) 1, 1, 1, 2*, 1, 1 (5)
IRC Racer 3: Dexter (Lowell Chang) 1, 1, 2*, 1, 1, 1 (5)
IRC Premier: Lighthorse (Shawn Keng) 1*, 1, 1, 1, 1 (4)
HKPN: Kiasu (Herman Wong / Yves Milot) 1*, 1, 1, 1, 1 (4)

It was a rather mixed bag of a regatta. It’s only three days, for a start, which means that in reality this is more of a Club event than a serious contender for regional honours. Very few boats are going to travel long distances for a long weekend’s regatta. The weather didn’t cooperate, and that’s nobody’s fault, and Inge Strompf-Jepsen in the RO seat made the most of the fitful breeze to scrape together sufficient races to make it worthwhile. In three days nobody recorded anything over 10kts, anywhere.

Rather importantly, the regatta seems to have become spread all across the face of Hong Kong. The attempt over the last two years to shift the emphasis away from same-old same-old windward-leewards on the Lamma Patch (which is entirely laudable in its own right: we love going north for the islands and the scenery, and hope that has been made clear!) has meant that there are now a plethora of start areas and no centre of gravity for the event. At the end of the racing day, boats were going back to either Shelter Cove, Kellett Island, Middle Island or the Aberdeen Boat Club, meaning that there was precious little fleet après-sail. “Where there’s no heart, there’s no soul,” one competitor advised last evening.

This writer’s fondest memories of the CCR are the 20kts+ days with a 3m swell on the Lamma Patch; what one of the AROs on the Committee Boat cheerfully labelled “a two-Stugeron day”. As a photographer, you’ll get a soaking, but the pictures are worth it! Last year the regatta pushed north into the islands in search of ‘something different’, and got it but, in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Haima, 2016 hardly provided enough breeze to make it worthwhile. The bottom line here is that the organisers are always pinned to the wall by the weather, regardless. This is an event report, not a judgment.

We congratulate the RO for pulling it out of the hat, and the Organising Committee for having the courage to, as they told us, “rip up the course book and start again.” However, we fear that this regatta may be spreading itself too wide to be effective. As Bilbo Baggins said, “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” Think about it.

Results are available online at http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/VCCR16ProvisionalResults.aspx

(If they really are still 'Provisional', that's a problem - all the prizes have been handed out!)

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