Rolex China Sea Race - Hi Fi collects the coveted IRC Overall title
by RHKYC Media on 20 Apr 2014
AMBUSH - 2014 Rolex China Sea Race Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo
http://www.regattanews.com
The second major prize of the 2014 Rolex China Sea Race was decided in Subic Bay this morning, as Hi Fi held Bryon Ehrhart’s TP52 Lucky to a two minute lead on the water to ensure that Neil Pryde’s Welbourne 52 collects the coveted IRC Overall title for the second time in four years.
Unaware of his triumph, as there were boats still racing which could have potentially beaten his handicap corrected time, Pryde was delighted with their race, saying that it was a 'fantastic race, probably the best we’ve ever had. We were in pressure most of the way apart from a couple of very light hours this morning, other than that, we kept moving all the time.'
Ehrhart was equally enthusiastic, claiming that this year’s Rolex China Sea Race was 'the classic we were promised. It was great the whole way with great competition as expected. We don’t know how it all shakes out (regarding IRC) but we had a great race and lots of fun. There was very strong competition from the TP52’s and the Santa Cruz and the Welbourne 52, I don’t think we lost sight of them for the whole race.'
Geoff Hill of Antipodes echoed those sentiments saying 'It was fantastic that you could start with four boats (in Hong Kong) and finish with those four boats within 1nm of each other – that’s champagne sailing!'
The IRC Racer 0 boats certainly made light of the pre-race forecast, with Ernesto Echauz, bringing home Standard Insurance Centennial mid-afternoon, commenting that his race highlight was that 'in 20 years of CSR, this is the fastest we have done the race, (including the record setting year of 2000) and even though we finished last on the water in division, it was a very fast race – unbelievable that we only stopped for a short time near the finish boat.'
With six boats home, the remaining 28 from four divisions will continue to race towards Subic Bay, with the IRC Premier boats expected to cross the line at around midnight tonight, and Racer 1 to start arriving towards dawn and throughout Sunday.
Provisional Results
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IRC Racer 0 ( 1.245 and above)
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Sail No.
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Boat Name
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Skipper / Owner
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Design
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TCC
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Finish Time
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Elapsed
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Corrected
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HKG2112
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Hi Fi
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Neil Pryde
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Welbourne 52 Custom
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1.351
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19/04/2014 11:07:12
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69:47:12
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94:16:54
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USA52152
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Lucky
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Bryon Ehrhart
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TP52
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1.357
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19/04/2014 11:05:22
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69:45:22
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94:39:33
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HKG2283
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Freefire
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Sam Chan
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TP52
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1.375
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19/04/2014 11:17:25
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69:57:25
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96:11:27
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GBR2888L
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Antipodes
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Geoff Hill
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Smith 72 Custom
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1.396
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19/04/2014 11:15:31
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69:55:31
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97:36:56
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PHI2286
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Standard Insurance Centennial
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Ernesto Echauz
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TP52
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1.346
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19/04/2014 15:50:59
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74:30:59
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100:17:57
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IVB8888
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Ragamuffin 90
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Sydney Fischer
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Maxi
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1.791
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18/04/2014 22:51:18
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57:31:18
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103:01:17
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IRC Racer 1: (1.100 - 1.244)
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Sail No.
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Boat Name
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Skipper / Owner
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Design
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TCC
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HKG2208
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Ambush
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Drew Taylor/Joachim Isler
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Mills 41
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1.158
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AUS4100
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Australian Maid
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Jonathon Wardill
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IOR 55
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1.173
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AUS555
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KuKuKERchu
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David J Ross
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Ker 40
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1.195
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HKG2282
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EFG Bank Mandrake
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Fred Kinmonth
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Mills 40
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1.141
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HKG2108
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Orient Express
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Andy Lam
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X-41
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1.120
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HKG2213
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Ramrod
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Olivier Decamps
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Farr 40
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1.178
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HKG280
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Redeye
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Paul Leese
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J-145C
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1.167
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HKG2300
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Signal 8
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Keith Jacobs
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Ker 40
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1.188
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HKG1345
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Surfdude
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Steve Ho
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Mill 45
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1.208
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SIN4321
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Zanzibar
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Jonathan Mahony
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Hunphreys 42
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1.212
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IRC Racer 2: (1.000 to 1.099)
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Sail No.
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Boat Name
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Skipper / Owner
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Design
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TCC
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HKG2159
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Krampus
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Niccolo Manno
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Anteros 36
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1.098
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HKG2093
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Red Kite II
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Anthony Root
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Bermudian Sloop
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1.029
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HKG2183
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Seawolf
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YY Yan / YF Liu
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A40
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1.096
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HKG2298
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Sell Side Dream
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Simon Powell
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A40RC
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1.095
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HKG1995
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Talkinghead
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Tonny Chung
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Sydney 36
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1.030
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IRC Premier
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Sail No.
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Boat Name
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Skipper / Owner
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Design
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TCC
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HKG2211
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Clove Hitch
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Alex Yu
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Bavaria 55
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1.122
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HKG2899
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Explorer
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Anthony Day
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XC50
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1.088
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CAY8888
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Moonblue 2
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Peter Churchouse
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Custom
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1.225
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HKG2360
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Sea Monkey
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Emmanuel V. Pitsilis
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Beneteau Sense 50
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1.107
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HKG2022
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Shahtoosh
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Peter Cremer
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Warwick 75
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1.287
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HKG2260
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Xena
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Peter Forsythe
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X-55
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1.205
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IRC Cruiser
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Sail No.
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Boat Name
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Skipper / Owner
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Design
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TCC
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HKG2366
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Allegro
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Thomas Wiesinger
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Beneteau Oceanis 40
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0.983
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HKG2118
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Crystal
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Bernd Hanemann
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Bermudian Sloop
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1.108
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HKG2107
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Darling
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Dean Chisholm
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Hanse 400
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1.045
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HKG2116
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Dearg Doom
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Kevin Greene
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Bavaria 39c
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1.008
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HKG2173
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Ex Libris
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Eric Doguet
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X-Yachts Xc38
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1.005
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HKG2088
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Soko
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Richard Winter
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Moody 46
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1.027
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HKG1401
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Wonderwall
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David Harari
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Beneteau 45
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1.084
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All boats are carrying a Yellowbrick tracker unit, which will report positions every 30 minutes (http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/RCSR2014tracking.aspx), while the race will feature for the first time as a virtual race on Sailonline.org.
For more information about the Rolex China Sea Race, please
click here.
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/121278