Hong Kong Raceweek. Asia's biggest small boat regatta wraps in style
by RHKYC Media on 19 Feb 2017
Hong Kong Raceweek 2017 Guy Nowell / Hong Kong Race Week
Hong Kong brought out the breeze today for the final day of Hong Kong Race Week with the Race Officers reporting a north-easterly breeze from 8 to 24kts across the four race areas with an average breeze of around 18kts. Principal Race Officer Charlie Manzoni summed up the racing. “We got in all of the races we wanted to get in this week. We have had everything from virtually no wind to 20+kts today. It was an awesome week with vary challenging conditions for some of the sailors. The sailors are all pretty raced out now and I am just delighted that we have got everything done very successfully. I am overjoyed with the race management team who has worked fantastically and really well together. It has been a great Hong Kong Race Week!”
Barry Truhol on Race Area B commented on the racing for the 2.4mRs and Optimists; “Today was an outstanding day. We started off in Stanley Bay with the wind kicking in at about 070 degrees. We set up the racecourse and were ready for the racers when they arrived. There was a constant breeze of 16 to 18kts with the odd gusts from 22 to 24kts. The 2.4mRs started first on an extended OP2 course. They finished their races in about 40 minutes and appeared quite tired. The first racers back were complaining of cold so we got their second race going right away, then we got another one in so they completed the 12 races in their series. The Optimists were on the ragged edge when they came to their third race. It was a big calorie burning day; a lot of attrition, a lot of sailors had to retire because of tiredness or mechanical failure. At the end of the day, three great races, huge wind, happy faces. Good day. Last but not least I would like to thank the support team for the race management, RIBs, mark boats, safety boats – they have been out getting battered doing physical work, physical labour for the last five days. They have ceaselessly worked to make it a great event and I thank them very much.”
On Area C, Race Officer for the windsurfers and Lasers Inge Strompf-Jepsen summed up the day. “It was a very windy day! We started off with the windsurfers off Cape D’Aguilar. When they started their first race it was blowing 20 to 22kts with quite high seas. The windsurfers were started in two separate start sequences and by the finish of the race many of the sailors couldn’t handle the wind. The decision was made to send the Techno 293 and the RS: One home and to only do a second race for the RSX:Youth. Then the Laser Radials and 4.7s started with the breeze still blowing 18kts and we got all three races in! The races were from 38 to 43 minutes so all target times were met – we are really pleased about that. We got the final three races in for the 12 races series today - it was a good day!”
Over in Area D, RO Brenda Davies commented on the racing “We had winds of 17 to 18kts average, gusting 22kts on the course today. We completed four races for each of the 29er, 470 and 420 fleets. All starts were good and clear. In the 29er fleet there was very competitive racing with a good battle for first between Calum Gregor from HK and Yi Nian Koh from Singapore with both teams obviously enjoying the challenging conditions. Quite a few people in each of the fleets went for a swim but they recovered quickly and continued racing. We only had a few retirements during the day. It was an excellent day of sailing and the sailors and race management alike will be looking forward to a hot shower and something warm to eat. A great job done by the race management team again today – thank you everyone.”
Green Fleet Race Officer Alex Hill remarked on the second day of racing for the Green Fleet. “We ran four races today. We started in Repulse Bay in 8 to 13kts. The breeze built from there and became a little difficult to manage, we had a lot of kids in the water and the wind became very strong. The sailors handled quite well but we decided to move across to Deep Water Bay. A few kids decided that they wanted to head home after the difficult second race and that was fine. We went out and had two more races in about 5 to 10kts. We had a really good time. We had 16 boats out in the morning and 13 in the afternoon so a pretty good fleet. As for the group as a whole, in the first race yesterday it was a 43 minute race and by the end today we were finishing races in about 20 to 25 minutes so the back of the fleet really caught up and learned a lot. It was great fun.”
Hong Kong Race Week Committee Chairman Peter Davies summed up the regatta. “We’ve come to the end of another Hong Kong Race Week. I’m very pleased to say we got racing in on all four days. We had varied conditions which challenged the sailors on the heavy days and mentally challenged them on the light days. I have been on the Optimist course all four days and I am pleased to think that particularly the lower half of the fleet persevered to get around the course today in what for them was particularly challenging conditions and I hope that they aspire to keep trying and push to make their way up that fleet. Three races completed in good challenging conditions 12 to 20kts.”
The prizegiving ceremony was held after racing at Middle Island. The Hong Kong Race Week Race Chairman Peter Davies began the proceedings by thanking the Hong Kong Government through the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Home Affairs Bureau and the supporting sponsors in particular Anglo Eastern as well as Pocari Sweat, Sun Indicators, and the accommodation partner L’Hotel.
The prize giving continued with Davies thanking the volunteers who assisted the 270+ competitors from Hong Kong, Australia, India, Singapore, China, Chinese Taipei, Macau, Great Britain, Italy, Indonesia and Thailand. Trophies and prizes were supplied by SLAM and the Neil Pryde Group.
See you at Hong Kong Race Week 2018!
Hong Kong Race Week is a constituent event of the ASAF Youth Cup and is co-organised by the Hong Kong Sailing Federation and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.
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