RHKYC San Fernando Race 2017 - IRC 1 and Premier Cruising winners

by RHKYC Media on 15 Apr 2017 The fleet has steadily been descending on San Fernando since yesterday, with many boats falling victim to holes off the Luzon coast, practically in sight of the finish. Philippines entry Ernesto Echauz’s TP52 Standard Insurance Centennial beat Sam Chan’s TP52 FreeFire to the finish line by just 28 minutes, arriving on Friday at 22.12 hrs and taking second place in the IRC 0 division.

First in the IRC 1 division to arrive - and subsequent winner of the IRC 1 trophy and second in IRC Overall - was Steve Manning / Anthony Roots’ Custom Ker 42 Black Baza, crossing the finish line on Friday at 21.20 hrs She was followed later by the Mills 41 Ambush owned by Joachim Isler / Andrew Taylor and the GTS 43 Mandrake III owned by Fred Kinmonth / Nick Burns.

Steve Manning commented on the racing. “The race was spectacular. We had a great start leaving Hong Kong; we were in the front of the pack through to and past Waglan. Then as predicted the weather got very lumpy; we had a reasonably close reach the first night which was very uncomfortable, but everyone held on to their dinner. Last night, today and into the finish we had the most beautiful sailing, ever. The brains trust dreamed up a plan for us to miss all the major park-ups, and we kept going all the time with no stops. We're very happy with the results - how can we not be? And for Scallywag, with those conditions it was perfect to break records, and you can't really argue with that. Thank you to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club for the huge effort that goes in beforehand and for welcoming us as promised with beers for the crew.'

The first boat to arrive in the IRC Premier Cruising division this morning was San Fernando Race Chairman’s boat Moonblue 2. They had a difficult park-up right before the finish, and finally tiptoed over the line today, Saturday at 08.32 hrs. Winner of the Premier Cruising division, Anthony Day’s XC50 Explorer, sailed in this afternoon at 13.55 hrs. Moonblue 2 crew member Geoff Hill remarked on the race. “The first night was a tester - we had 25 to 30kts across the deck. Yes, it was rough, but Moonblue 2 is a big boat so it was pretty easy... easier than other boats I've sailed on! The second night was 'a breeze', and after that it was fantastic sailing. We slowed down for an hour, then stopped for 90 minutes just before the finish - pretty typical I would have to say. It all depends on when you arrive in San Fernando.”

The final boats racing are expected to arrive throughout the night, with the last boat in the HKPN division expected to be Richard Winter’s Moody 46 Soko, arriving sometime on Sunday afternoon.

Further information about the race is available on the event website www.sanfernandorace.com