Tomes Cup 2011 preview
by Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on 15 Feb 2011
Ruffian Brigand and Pandora Windfall compete in the 2010 Tomes Cup Joyce Ravara/RHKYC
Tomes Cup 2011 - The third constituent event of the 2010/2011 National Australia Bank Top Dog Trophy Series will take place in Victoria Harbour on Saturday 19 February. Around 50-55 keelboats will be on the water contesting one of the Club’s oldest trophies, first awarded in 1880.
The Tomes Cup is a pursuit race, which is different to normal yacht racing. Competitors are given staggered start times under RHKATI handicap, ie. the slowest boats start first and then the faster boats set off in pursuit with the time delay between classes of boats being determined from their handicaps. If all boats are sailed equally well, they should (in theory) all finish at the same time.
The first start will be at 1400hrs. Last year’s Tomes Cup Winner was Capoeira (an Etchells skippered by Laurence Mead).
The winner receives the beautiful silver Tomes Cup, on which the inscription reads 'Sugar Refiners Cup won by Naomi April 1st 1880'. The trophy was donated to RHKYC in the late 1960s by Mrs Tomes, the widow of a member of the Tomes family of the old Hong Kong firm of Shewan Tomes & Co., Ltd., (now part of the Hutchison Group), and has been awarded for a pursuit race ever
RHKYC website
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