Yisunsin International Yacht Race draws to a close + Video

by Michalis Pateniotis on 22 Oct 2012 The final day of the sixth Yisunsin International Yacht Race was completed today with an offshore race that needed great patience from the sailors. The wind was very light during the early hours and completely absent at the time of the start. With an hour delay the fleets finally stated for the shortest version of the offshore race, to Ogok Island and back. That meant that the athletes had to sail approximately seven nautical miles and another seven back to the finish line.

First started the ORC 1 and 2 classes, followed by Open 1, Open 2 and J24 class consecutively. The wind speed never exceeded six knots, nonetheless, this situation allowed sailors to take in the magical landscape as they moved slowly past the small islets spread across the gulf of Tongyeong. The flora is plentiful and gorgeous on these islands – sometimes the green, in small trees and bushes, reaches all the way down the rocks and meets the water.

The first boat to reach Ogok was Sexy Busan. The conditions around the boat were still extremely light at this point. Time Machine and First were the next boats that got there very close to each other, whereas Megazip kept to a course further away from them and in extension to the island, trying to benefit from the wind close to the opposite coast, as it was quite stronger there. Sexy Busan finally managed to get at the Southern tip of the island where the Race Committee had again decided to shorten the race and set the finish line there.

At the end, in the ORC Club 1, it was Time Machine from Russia that came first, while in Club 2, victory belonged to Japan’s, Bambino. In the Open Class, the first spot today for the first group was taken by Team Haemaru from Korea. In the second group, the race was won by Patience from Korea, while in the J24 it was the Boomerang boat from Japan that finished first!

The organizers kept the best for the end with a spectacular closing ceremony where the winners received their trophies and money prizes and everyone enjoyed a traditional performance from local dancers and musicians.