RHKYC San Fernando Race 2017 - sailing towards the sunshine

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 13 Apr 2017 Yesterday (Wednesday) the RHKYC’s biennial San Fernando Race set off for the sunnier climes of La Union Province in the Philippines. It is the 40th anniversary edition of the event that started in 1977, but not quite the 20th race – in 2015 a typhoon got in the way, and in 2003 the Hong Kong SARS epidemic kept everyone at home in ‘quarantine’.

Sunshine would have been nice, but 10 kts of breeze was acceptable, and the race started on time (as soon as the RO had arrived, but that's another story...) with a warning signal at 13.10hrs and the start itself at 1320hrs, with the guns being fired by Mrs. Michelle Teasel who had had the foresight to bid for the honour at the San Fernando Charity Auction.

The fleet consisted of 16 boats, ranging from Seng Huang Lee’s 100ft supermaxi Scallywag with one eye on the record and the other on the possibility of some moderately dirty weather in front of them, down to the little Mills 40 (if you’re counting LWL) and /or Richard Winter’s Moody 46, Soko, if you’re looking at the rating.

Scallywag charged into an early lead in the harbour, with Judes Echauz’s TP52 Standard Insurance Centennial with Philippine Sailing Assocation stars stacked on the rail, gamely hanging on to her transom beyond Tai Koo Shing until they both fell into a soft and shifty patch before Shau Kei Wan. Eventually, everyone fetched up in the same hole, and it became a struggle to get out of the harbour at all. At one point it looked as if Centennial might even take the title at the Lei Yue Mun gap (perhaps we need a ‘First out of the Harbour’ trophy, like the ‘First Past the Heads’ for the Sydney-Hobart), but it was not to be, and 100 ft of groaning carbon eased gently past the gap heading for Cape Collinson.

Free Fire had a rather undistinguished start that occasioned a call from the Race Control back office - “Are these trackers working properly?” Jono Mahoney and the ‘Zanziboys’ were as cool as cucumbers pre-start – always the last crew to leave the Main Bar, and last to get down to the dock (but certainly not last on the water). This was Anthony Day’s Victoria Harbour swansong – his XC50, Explorer, will soon be heading to Northern Ireland. Anthony Root, co-owner of Black Baza was on the Committee Boat wishing he was sailing, and Chris Allen and Olivier Decamps, double-handing on Allen’s brand new Swan 55, Emocean 2, were busy as beavers past Cape Collinson as they hoisted light headsails and picked up the pace towards the Philippines.

As the camera boat turned to head for home we could still see Scallywag looking remarkably upright, with the rest of the fleet following on and all looking forward to some Easter sunshine further down the track.

Forecast weather (Predictwind) for the race starts with a cold front accompanying the fleet for the first 24hrs and then dissipating. Go too fast, and you’ll outrun the breeze, go too slowly, and it will fade around you - in any case, it’s going to be soft towards the finish line.

The current monohull race record was set in 2001 by Sam Chan’s ‘original’ 70ft FfreeFire, at 49h 55m 12s. That’s an average speed of just under 10 kts: Scallywag was last seen on the Yellowbrick tracker more than halfway to San Fernando after less than 24 hrs, and travelling at 16kts, so even with an anticipated light finish, the record is likely to be under threat. 2017 will be Chan’s eighth trip to San Fernando – there must be something there that he likes!

Racing in the IRC 1 division is Singapore entry, Zanzibar, Jono Mahoney’s Humphreys 42, winner of the Rolex China Sea Race 2012. And the doyenne of the Premier Cruising division, Pete Churchouse’s extensively campaigned Warwick 64, Moonblue 2. The crew were spotted ‘beefing up’ on Cornish pasties before leaving the dock. “I do hope we remember where to go after Po Toi,” said Churchouse.

At 1300 hrs Thursday, just 24 hrs after the start, Scallywag was leading the fleet at a spanking 12.2 kts with just 166nm to go to the finish. Standard Insurance Centennial is making 5.2kts with 238 nm to go, and Free Fire has found a hole. At the back of the fleet, Diamond Queen (351 dtf) leads Soko by three miles, and right in the middle Steve Manning’s Black Baza is leading IRC 1 and IRC Overall with 258 nm to run. Just time the approach into San Fernando…

Spectators wishing to follow the race can keep up with the yacht movements on Yellowbrick trackers and armchair sailors can race alongside the fleet on Virtual Regatta and SailOnline.org.

Before the start of the race (which proudly sits on the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Overseas Calendar), RORC/RHKYC members and guests held a dinner to celebrate 40 years of ‘sailing to San Fernando’. Joachim Isler, RORC Overseas Rear Commodore, pronounced the occasion “cracking”, and a number of salty San Fernando reminiscences were exchanged. Bruce Walker having spent time in a Philippines jail did not come as a surprise! Of such occasions are sailors’ happy memories made. The next RORC Dinner will precede the Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race in October this year.