Two schools victorious at Boase Cohen & Collins InterSchool Festival

by RHKYC Media on 5 Mar 2017 The 16th anniversary edition of Hong Kong’s only team racing sailing competition for schools wrapped up today at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s Middle Island sailing centre. 22 teams compromising of 166 students from 16 schools competed against each other in teams of three boats, sailing either Feva or Pico dinghies.

Day one of the Boase Cohen and Collins Inter School Sailing Festival 2017 saw some great sailing with the Race Officer Elberti Uiterwaal-Postma and her team getting all the sailors through to Race 60 on the Team Racing schedule. Successfully completing Round Robin 1, in both the Feva - Division A and Pico – Division B.

RO Elberti commented on the racing “the wind was a bit tricky, coming from every direction and gusting up to 12-13 knots. The conditions were certainly keeping the little ones in the Pico Division B busy with some unexpected capsizes, as they were caught by surprise in the heavier gusts! Overall we are really pleased with how the day went, especially as we were able to get a few races away in the Round Robin 2 this afternoon. It was great to see some really good sailing out there today'

Results Officer, Mark Dowding echoed Elberti's sentiments, adding how he was really impressed by the level of maturity displayed by the children at this year’s event. “Every time the French International School students came past the finish boat (winners of last year’s Feva - Division A) they gave us a wave and a yell of thanks. It’s really great, and as volunteers, it really makes us feel appreciated”

As resident DJ, Kevin Lewis pumped out the tunes along with some insightful commentary, the schools battled it out on the water. Three debutante teams are included in the mix this year, including The ISF Academy, Creative Secondary School and Tai Po Regional Squad. The first timers certainly made their mark on the competition, with stand out performances by the CSS and ISF teams making it through to the Pico Gold League, heading into day two.

Chief Umpire, Peter Backe headed up a great team of 'new blood' umpires, including Peter Austin, a six-time competitor and past winner at the Inter-School’s Sailing Festival, who was teamed up with one of Hong Kong’s leading National Judges, Cathy Delany. Cathy commented, 'It's great to see the sailors step up a level this year. You can really see the Teams now working more, displaying some true Team Racing tactics. The training in the lead-up has certainly paid off. I'm really enjoying working with former inter schools competitors, and sharing their passion.'

With an electric atmosphere of happy and excited sailors filling the Middle Island hardstand, day two started off on a high with cheering and barracking students, teachers and parents urging on the sailors out the front of the RHKYC Middle Island Club house.

A severely fluctuating and oscillating breeze once again challenged RO Elberti’s duties to the max. She commented on the racing “This was a very long and tough day and I am glad we got so many races in yesterday. 117 races in all were sailed over the weekend. I so impressed that the kids kept smiling the whole day through. I must comment on the Race Management which was really impressive, like a well oiled machine, the work on the pontoon, the safety, the umpires, the results made this event a success!”

Peter Backe summed up the conditions of the day “We had shifty conditions but in the end we managed to get off a lot of starts. We had good racing even though there were big shifts and we always got the races through. I think everyone is happy. Great Race Officer and great racing.”

In the last race of the day the battle came down to a three-way tie in the Pico Division for medal places from second to forth between French International School, Jockey Club Ti-I School and Creative Secondary School, in the end CSS took second place on count back from JCT and FIS in forth with Hong Kong Schools Sailing Association taking a well deserved first place.

In the Feva division the renowned Gregor brothers helped fellow team members secure a solid win for King George V School, victorious over the 2016 Division A Feva winners the French International School who took home silver.

The awards ceremony took place immediately after racing, with Colin Cohen, Senior Partner at title sponsor Boase Cohen and Collins, awarding the trophies and medals and sailing scholarship grants to the winning schools and students.

Cohen was delighted to be involved with the 2017 Inter School Sailing Festival, saying “We are absolutely delighted with this weekend. It was great to see the number of schools here. The weather was perfect and we believe there were great improvements made since last year. We had a whole new range of schools participating and we are looking forward to having a long-term relationship with Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, so we can grow from strength to strength over the coming years. For us, it’s a great, great event and we are happy to have participated.”

Final Results

Feva Division
1st King George V School
2nd French International School
3rd Kellett School
4th West Island School

Pico Division
1st Hong Kong Schools Sailing Association
2nd Creative Secondary School
3rd Jockey Club Ti-I College
4th French International School