National Australia Bank – Top Dog Trophy Series 2009-2010
by RHKYC Media on 29 Apr 2010
Pursuit racing in Hong Kong harbour. Richard Knight/RHKYC
The final race of the National Australia Bank Top Dog Trophy Series 2009-2010 will take place this Saturday, 1 May. The HKRNVR Vase race will get underway at 1100hrs, with Race Officer Gareth Williams checking out the weather conditions before selecting the course.
The race is a classic pursuit race, in which the lowest rated boats start first, trying to hold off the advances of the faster boats that start after them. Competitors are given staggered start times which, in an ideal world, should result in all the boats finishing at the same target finish time. In practice, this is rarely the case and the current ‘top five’ will keep going to the bitter end to improve their placing and try to lift not only the HKRNVR Vase, but also the National Australia Bank Top Dog Trophy.
The HKRNVR Vase was presented to the Club more than 40 years ago by the local Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves with the proviso that 'the course should take participating yachts into waters patrolled by the HKRNVR.'
Nowadays the race has to take into account Marine Department restrictions in the congested central harbour area, therefore the courses take competitors to the east through Lei Yue Mun Gap before rounding one of the Tathong Channel Separation buoys and then returning into Victoria Harbour. The HKRNVR has ceased to exist, but the trophy continues to serve as a reminder to yachtsmen of when amateur sailors played their part in the security of Hong Kong.
Positions going into the final race of the National Australia Bank Top Dog Trophy Series 2009-2010
Place Sail No. Boat Name Skipper Class Sub-Division Points
1 HKG713 Sai Kung Belle Jamie McWilliam IRC Cruiser 4.87
2 HKG3830 Squiffy Howard Williams FF15 Dayboat 10.24
3 HKG787 3 x 11 Jimmy Farquhar Etchells Dayboat 10.52
4 HKG2208 Ambush H J Isler / A Taylor IRC Cruiser 14.18
5 HKG3415 French Fries Jun Komatsu FF15 Dayboat 14.69
6 HKG1046 Capoeira David Mead & Sue Godfrey Etchells Dayboat 21.08
7 HKG3046 Sky's The Limit Gideon Mowser SBR Dayboat 28.73
8 HKG731 Rainbow Chaser Wilcox Tam Impala Inshore Keelboat 33.34
9 HKG2108 Orient Xpress Richard and Inge Strompf IRC Cruiser 40.88
10 HKG9546 Impala One Mike Burrell & Gaston Chan Impala Inshore Keelboat 45.07
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