'Boys from Brazil' at the China Cup International

by Guy Nowell, Sail World Asia on 17 Oct 2007
The China Cup International Regatta has attracted an impressive entry from around the world, in particular in the Beneteau 40.7 One Design class. Earlier this year the event organisers purchased ten 40.7s in order to seed a one-design racing class at Asia’s newest and China’s very first keelboat regatta.

The boats were offered on free charter to national representative crews from overseas, and after the story broke on Sail-World.com the application list quickly exceeded the number of boats!

Advance guard of the Brazilian entry are Mario Drindade and Henrique Haddad, who will be joined today by their skipper Marco Soares who won a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, crewing for Eduardo Penido in the 470 class.

‘We are a group of friends from the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club’, said Drindade. Team Brazil are already well-used to the boat that they will be sailing next weekend, having campaigned a Beneteau 40.7 for the last two years. ‘We have been very successful in local regattas over the last two years, and won both the Buzios Sailing Week and the Lhabela Regatta, which are significant events in Brazil.’

Drindade and Haddad ferried the boat from Aberdeen to RHKYC Kellett Island, Causeway Bay, yesterday. They both agreed that ‘Hong Kong harbour is amazing’, and were impressed by the quantity of commercial traffic – ‘and we were only motoring, not sailing!’

The Brazilians will be joined by crews from 13 other nations competing in the first China Cup International Regatta 2007 (19-21 October) making it a truly International Event.