Hong Kong Dragon Championship at Royal Hong Kong YC preview

by RHKYC Media on 18 Dec 2013 The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club will host the Hong Kong Dragon Championship from 10 to 12 January 2014 with the continued support of Central Oceans and Northrop and Johnson, with nine races scheduled to take place over three days in waters to the east of Lamma, south of Hong Kong Island.

At RHKYC’s Middle Island clubhouse after sailing on Sunday 12 January, prizes will be presented to the winners of the overall championship and the Corinthian division (boats with no professional sailors on board), while the title of ‘Hong Kong Champion’ will be given to the first Hong Kong helm. In addition to prizes, the top three teams will receive L’Occitane gifts. The prize giving ceremony will be followed by a dinner attended by Dragon sailors, families and sponsors.

In spite of the recent loss of two Dragons from the Hong Kong fleet, the turnout is expected to be strong, potentially matching last year’s record of 18 boats on the start line. The Dragon class is enjoying great momentum, with a number of new owners in the starting blocks to challenge the old guard. Virgile Bertrand (HKG41), Frederic Roumier (HKG40), Laurence McDonald (HKG37) and Frederic Azemard / Guillaume Douin (HKG47) are gearing up to try to take the Corinthian title from the current holder, Lowell Chang.

Once again, the Club is delighted to welcome top international sailors to the event. Vasily Senatorov, Vice Chairman of the International Dragon Association (IDA), will charter a Dragon with fellow Russian 470 Olympic sailors Igor Iwashintcow and Slava Varnachkin.

Vasily commented: 'We like Hong Kong and Hong Kong people. We have good reliable friends like Lowell and Phyllis Chang and Tam Nguyen. We believe it will be a great regatta with a lot of fun both on the water and in the club.'

Another top Russian team, Dmitry Samokhin, Andrey Kirilyuk (one of the best tacticians in the Dragon circuit) and professional crew Alexei Busher, are planning to charter a Hong Kong Dragon. RUS 76 finished in second place at the World Championship in September 2013 in Weymouth and is regularly on the podium at international events.

Theis Palm, Dragon Champion and North Sails Dragon expert, who this season is again taking part in HKG55’s European campaign, will also fly to Hong Kong to continue to train the team. 'I’m looking forward to coming back to Hong Kong. This excellent event has become a must in my International calendar with a great level of competition. It’s fantastic to see that there is such a strong and dynamic fleet here – that reminds us that the Dragon class is truly international.'

Bram van Olphen, Central Oceans Managing Director concluded: 'All of us are very proud to be part of this wonderful event again and are sure that all participants will enjoy the great hospitality of the local Dragon family. We wish you fair winds and great races ahead!'

A professional photographer and a cameraman will be covering the event and each boat racing will be recorded using a GPS tracker. TackTracker replay will be available on the event webpage together with the results.

For more information, please go to http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/DragonClassChamps2013.aspx