China Cup fleet arrives in Shenzhen

by Rob Kothe Sail-World.com on 19 Oct 2007 Famous Hong Kong sailor Frank Pong sailed his maxi yacht Jelik, a Reichel Pugh designed 76 footer (23 metre boat) to victory in the first race of the China Cup International Regatta 2007 today.

Sailors from around the world have sailed to Shenzhen to compete in the first ever, big boat sailing regatta to be held in China. The China Cup International Regatta 2007 is being organised by the Chinese Yachting Association and the Executive Authority of the 26th Summer Universiade (Shenzhen, China).

The first race started near Steep Island, just to the east of Hong Kong. The 60 boat fleet set off at 11 am to sail 28 nautical miles to the Longcheer Yacht Club in Shenzhen.

After winning last week’s China Coast Regatta in Hong Kong, Jelik was tipped as the favourite to win the China Cup. Today, when the starting gun was fired, she led the fleet around the windward mark and north east up the coast.

Behind her Adam Ng’s Microlab, formerly the Rolex Sydney Hobart racer Yendys, was second ahead of Nick Burns and Fred Kinmonth’s Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake, with Ray Robert’s Quantum Racing following. Sam Chan’s TP 52 FreeFire had been late at the start but had gradually sailed up to the leaders.

Jelik was hugging the coast ahead of Microlab, followed by Fortis Mandrake while out wide FreeFire gradually overtook Quantum Racing.

As Jelik approached Gaoyo Corner across Daya Bay from the finish line at the Longcheer Yacht Club, the wind softened to seven knots (14km per hour).

Jelik finished at 15:17:05 in an elapsed time of four hours, 17 minutes and five seconds and this time will stand as the race record. Second across the line was Sam Chan’s FreeFire with an elapsed time of six hours three minutes and 41 seconds. Third was Ray Robert's Quantum Racing which sailed the course in seven hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds.

After the race leaders and further back down the coast, the eleven Beneteau First 40.7’s were fighting boat against boat to win the One Design Class line honours. This is the largest ever One Design fleet to sail in Asia with boats competing from Australia, Brazil, Dubai, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, United States of America and mainland China, represented by the Chinese Navy and CCIR.

Jelik was greeted by a large crowd of spectators and media, as she moved to the Longcheer Yacht Club marina. It was a popular win for the veteran Hong Kong sailor, who has a strong relationship with China’s sailing teams at all levels. He was the Honorary Chairman of the America’s Cup China Team.

After he crossed the finishing line Pong said ‘Today we are making history, this will be the first of many keelboat sailing regattas in China.’

With the obvious success of the inuagural keel boat regatta, the future for sailing in China is very bright. The 2008 Olympic sailing regatta in Qingdao will be a major step forward for Chinese sailing and then the Volvo Ocean Race will stop in Qingdao in early 2009.

20071019¡¡IRC Division A - Start Time¡¡11:00:00¡¡£­ DOWNLOAD £­
SAIL NO.	NAME OF BOAT	OWNER/SKIPPER	Points	Place
HKG600	Jelik	Frank Pong	1	1
8889	Quantum Racing	Ray Roberts	2	6
HKG2266	Hummingbird	Qiu Jian Min	3	5
HKG2238	FfreeFire 52	Sam Chan	4	4
HKG2166	Fortis Mandrake	Burns / Kinmonth	5	7
HKG2228	Microlab Moonlight Shadow	Adam Ng	6	8
20071019¡¡IRC Division B - Start Time¡¡11:05:00¡¡£­ DOWNLOAD £­
HKG2319	China Cup No. 9	Brazil Team	1	2
HKG2317	China Cup No.7	Mamoru Nagata (Japan Team)	2	3