A River Runs Through It - inaugural XiangJiang Cup

by Suzy Rayment on 20 Jun 2015 The first edition of the XiangJiang Cup starts today in Changsha, China. This 'International Invitation' sailing regatta is the brainchild of Tang Wei Zheng, a local entrepreneur who has been bitten by the boating bug. Himself an owner of an Azimut 60, Tang is enthusiastic about the future of sailing in China and has sponsored the purchase of a fleet of one-design sailing yachts, in conjunction with local sports and tourism bureaus of the Hunan Provence, and the Changsha Municipal People’s Government.

The one-design fleet includes 10 FarEast 28R and eight FarEast 18R sailing yachts, which along with a bevy of dinghies - Lasers, Laser Radials and 470s being sailed by local Olympic sailors, were out of the water yesterday doing some practice before the event starts today. The long-term goal of this venture is to develop sailing and watersports in the region. To this end, the event is supported by the China Yachting Association, and organised by the Shenzhen Across Four Oceans Sailing Event Management, which is also responsible for the China Cup International Regatta.

The event is being held over the Dragon Boat festival weekend in order to increase exposure to the general public. Racing will be run over two days (Saturday and Sunday) and comprises six short windward/leeward races and a number of longer distance races which are still being planned.

The invited international teams include sailors from Australia, UK, France, Russia, New Zealand and Belgium - mostly expatriates who are living in Hong Kong. With over 200 competitors?taking part this is no small regatta, and this - combined with the challenges of conducting an event on a flowing river - is proving problematic for the Race Committee. Unseasonal rain and overcast weather have made the job even more difficult, especially when last week the river current was running at 5kts. But with some help from the local authorities, the river flow is being regulated and the current has been reduced to around 1-2 kts.

Unfortunately the wind gods are also not playing fair and so it will be a challenging series for all the sailors on the water: strong current and light winds are not a brilliant combination. There is a pot of gold at the end of event in the form of prize money for the winners – RMB12,000 for a first place, RMB10,000 for a second and RMB6,000 for third.

Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province in south-central China and was the site of Chairman Mao Zedong's conversion to communism. It was the scene of major battles in the Sino-Japanese War of 1937–45 and was briefly occupied by the Japanese. Rebuilt since 1949, the city is now a major interior port and a commercial and industrial center, and one of China's 20 most 'economically advanced' cities.