Audi China Coast Regatta - 4 minutes with the Regatta Chairman

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World.com on 8 Oct 2015 A quick catch-up with Anthony Root, Chairman of the Audi China Coast Regatta 2015, at last night's Opening Party:

“This year’s Audi China Coast Regatta… I call it the ‘new’ regatta. The event started out of Clearwater Bay in 1993, racing in the Ninepins area, and then moved down to Hong Kong south side and the Lamma Patch. There it became mostly windward/leeward racing with an occasional long beat up to the TCS2 buoy. Recent Marine Dept restrictions have progressively constrained the racing area, so instead of staying in the rut we have ripped up the rule book and started again.”

“This year’s regatta will be held in the area east of Tung Lung and between Basalt Island to the northwest, the Ninepins in the middle and Po Toi and Waglan in the south east. We have taken a lesson from Cowes Week, and will be using not only ‘islands’ marks, but also movable ‘Club’ marks, re-positioned for each race to balance out the ratio of beats, reaches and runs to ensure that there is no advantage for any one type of boat. Our new courses will test the full range of capabilities of all the boats and their crews.”

“This is without a doubt the best regatta in Asia. It offers a huge range of challenges, and visitors and local boats alike will appreciate the breadth, depth and diversity of the racing. The wind is forecast from 9-25 knots – the start of the north east monsoon. It’s going to be great!”

Anthony Root started sailing on a Columbia 30, and then successfully campaigned Red Kite II, an Archambault 35, for the next five years, and now there’s a new boat…

“We won our division at China Coast in four of those years, and were only beaten once. We raced all the major Asian regattas during that time, with huge success.”

“The new boat is a custom-build Ker 42, specifically designed for racing in Asian waters and the conditions that we usually find in the region. After the China Coast we’ll do the Vietnam Race, and then continue south to participate in the rest of the Asian circuit. In the next nine months we’ll compete in 10 regattas, about 100 races, and we’ll travel just over 9,000nm.”

“The new boat – Black Baza – is more than just a boat. It’s a work of art. From Jason Ker’s design to McConaghy’s build and the Southern Spars, the sum total is fantastic. The boat is fast, responsive, and a joy to sail.”

Black Baza will be racing in the IRC 1 'Furious Forties' division. 'The biggest challenge? Pretty much everyone else in the division! Every boat has capable and experienced people on board, right at the top of the competitive ladder in Hong Kong. And new boats, too. Look out for Marcel Leidts' sparkling Ker 46, Zannekin, and the straight-out-of-the-box Mills 41, Ambush, owned by Drew Taylor and Joachim Isler.'

The Audi China Coast Regatta 2015 starts tomorrow 09 October, and runs through Sunday 11 October.

For further details please see http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinacoastregatta.aspx