'Bright and breezy' start to China Coast Regatta

by RHKYC Event Media on 11 Oct 2008 A bright and breezy day off Lamma Island, to the south of Hong Kong, offered competitors ideal conditions for the first day of the 2008 Total Lubmarine China Coast Regatta. While conditions at 0930hrs looked a little soft, the breeze filled in to a 10 knot northeasterly by the first start, and further strengthened to 15 knots during the first race of the day.

It was refreshing, in these straitened times, to see so many new boats (or boats with new owners) on the start line. While missing a few boats from the 35-strong entry list, there was still plenty of action on the water, with all divisions offering close competition. Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen opted for combined starts, with IRC Divisions A and B starting a six-leg windward/leeward race at 1030hrs, and IRC Divisions C and D following with four legs at 1035hrs.

With Jelik averaging 18 minutes a lap, it never seemed likely that the cut-off times would be troubled, and Frank Pong’s 75 foot Reichel Pugh proceeded to take both the gun and handicap honours for Division A, ahead of Paul Winkelmann’s TP52 Island Fling.

In Division B, the Taylor/Isler owned Mills 41 Ambush performed strongly, in spite of shredding a spinnaker on the second downwind leg, and also took the double. It seemed to be a race for doubles, as Helmuth Hennig’s A35, Men at Work and H Wong’s Impala, Ling Yuan, repeated the feat in Divisions 3 and 4.

Race 2 was an 'Islands' course, with the RO sending IRC A and B combined on a 17nm romp past TCS 2, Beaufort Island and Stanley before finishing them close to RHKYC’s Middle Island base and a chilled beer. Jelik again led the fleets home in just under 2 hours, but it was the Burns/Kinmonth-owned Farr-Mills 51 Mandrake which took first on corrected time around 15 minutes later.

Ambush again cleaned up in Division B, just ahead of Rick Strompf’s new X-41, Orient Xpress, and in Division C, Men at Work went to work and secured another double, ahead of Lowell Chang’s X99, Dexter after a 15.5nm course which took in Beaufort and Po Toi Island with no stop for lunch.

Ling Yuan rounded out the day with another double, finishing just as the breeze softened to 7 knots at around 1500hrs and - with only one protest to trouble the International Jury - an early prizegiving left competitors free to relax and think about tomorrow’s racing. Crew work will be tested to the limit with three windward/leewards starting at 1030hrs and a forecast of stronger conditions.

Full results are available at http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinacoastraceweek/results08.htm