RHKYC Tomes Cup - Buster by a whisker
by RHKYC on 2 Mar 2014
RHKYC Tomes Cup 2014. Buster leads the Ruffians early in the race, and went on to an overall win.
RHKYC/Guy Nowell
http://www.guynowell.com/
With winds softening throughout the day, this year’s Tomes Cup, presented by zerorh+ was a sedate affair in a 5 to 6kt south easterly, with 58 boats taking to the water in pursuit of one of RHKYC’s oldest perpetual trophies, engraved as the ‘Sugar Refiners’ Cup’ and first presented in 1880.
Tomes Cup operates on staggered starts for one-design boats, based on an in-club ‘RHKATI’ rating, with two minute intervals covering specific rating bands. Race Officer Gareth Williams and his team were on the water early to select Course 6 and set up for a Hung Hom start.
After a lap and a half to Tai Koo Shing, Pandora Solstice was holding on to a presentable lead over Ruffian Buster with the Flying Fifteens and Impalas making ground fast. The fleet completed their downwind leg to Dock Buoy then entered a series of short triangles to take them towards the target finish time of 1630hrs.
With Solstice clinging on to the front, and Buster breathing down her transom at Gate Buoy, several other classes were moving rapidly up the fleet including sportsboat Chrisargo, Flying Fifteen Tchaikoffsky and the Etchells class. In the light breeze, it was a surprise to see a knife edge finish, with Buster passing Solstice in the final metres to take first place by two seconds and Chrisargo taking third.
It wasn’t the best day for the Big Boats, with Ambush the first to finish, six minutes off the pace in 13th place. The remaining boats wended their way home in due course and, with no protests to be heard, a busy prizegiving, supported by Veuve Cliquot and Stella Artois, took place on the RHKYC Main Lawn, with the prizes presnted by Suzy Rayment, Managing Editor of the Club's media partner, Yachtstyle magazine.
Results Boat Name Owner / Skipper Class
1 Buster Nick Bryan Ruffian
2 Solstice K.W. Chair Pandora
3 Chrisargo Peter Backe Longtze
First Day Boat Freelance Laurence Mead Etchells
First Big Boat Ambush J Isler / A Taylor Mills 41
First Inshore Keelboat Paddy B Herman Wong Impala
Full details of the zerorh+ Top Dog Trophy Series, including current standings, can be found on the RHKYC website at www.rhkyc.org.hk/topdogtrophy.aspx
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