24th Rolex China Sea Race - preview

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 18 Mar 2008 Every year since 1962 the fleet has headed south. An educated guess says that the weather was probably no better at Easter-time then than now - varying amounts of combinations and degrees of rain, cold and mugginess prevail. The prospect of a trip in the general direction of the sun has definite pulling power.

It took a little longer back in 1962 – six days and something before the crew of Reverie, including the late great Hecor Ross, sometime Vice Patron RKHYC, Rear Commodore RORC and one of those IPYC Middle Kingdom Mandarins in Exile, crossed the finish line. Satellites hadn’t been invented so there was no GPS – in fact, the boats didn’t even have radios.

It’s got a bit quicker since then. By 1996 the race had come down to 75h 53m 56s, a time set by Karl Kwok with his ILC 40’ Beau Geste, which he then proceeded to obliterate in 2000 with his VO60 (another Beau Geste), setting a new benchmark of 47h 43m 07s. That year no less than six boats broke the existing record.

However, records are rather tricky to really pin down when the race has both started and finished in a number of different places. At various times the start has been in Junk Bay or near Steep Island, but in 2006 at last the race started where it should always have started – right in front of the RHKYC. Various nay-sayers were proved wrong: after all, the Around the Island race starts from a Club line, so why not the China Sea Race? The (possibly) light air trip to Lei Yue Mun is just part of the challenge of the race.

The finish has suffered from wanderlust, too. The original finish line was at Corregidor Island, at the entrance to Manila Bay, but this was later moved to Sangley Point, a position right in front of the Manila Yacht Club – very convenient for the RIB bringing the slab of cold San Miguel to each finishing yacht. In 2002 the race stayed outside Manila Bay altogether, finishing at Punta del Fuego, near Maya Maya, and since then it has wound up just inside Subic Bay, an estimated 85 nm shorter than the trip to MYC breakwater. There are good reasons for not racing to the Manila Yacht Club: the smell of the typhoon shelter is one of them, but the bleat of 'light air in Manila Bay' is not – it’s just another challenge along the way, like ghosting up the Derwent to Hobart, but hotter.

Along with the Newport-Bermuda Race and the Transpac, the China Sea Race enjoys the distinction of going further offshore than most ‘offshore’ races. Somewhere out in the middle between Hong Kong and the Philippines the race is almost 300 nm from land, not to mention getting right to the edge of the HK Government Flying Service’s SAR range. The fleet took a pasting during the race in 2000, and with the right (wrong?) weather conditions the China Sea can be a trying and testing place at almost any time of year.

For Chris Meads and his brand new Corby 43 Full Metal Jacket it is going to be race of ‘firsts’. Meads scored a 2nd place in the Racing division in the San Fernando Race 2007 in his previous boat, the J-109 Halcyon Daze, but this is the first CSR for Meads and the first offshore race for FMJ. Since her debut appearance at the Phuket King’s Cup last year the boat has been put through a 1-ton weight loss programme. The bulb has been recast, and the draught reduced. 'She was just a bit too stiff,' said Meads, 'probably ok in stronger breeze in New Zealand or Europe, but too much for Asian light airs. Losing the lead was not a hard decision, and with commodity prices the way they are, Meads reckons he probably turned a profit on the excess lead! 'It’s been an intense two weeks, but FMJ with her crew of VOR/Whitbread veterans and the rest of the regulars is ready to perform. Let‘s just hope we don’t run out of chrome polish,' chuckles Meads.

Neil Pryde doesn’t need anyone to show him the way across the China Sea – he’s lost count of the number of CSR races and race series he has completed. 'There’s only one way to win an offshore race,' he says, 'and that’s to get there faster than the other guys. To do that you need a good dose of luck – you can sail a brilliant race and still arrive off the Philippines at the wrong time of day and sit in a hole for a couple of hours. Right place, right time.' Pryde’s newly-modified Hi Fi seems to go best at the lower end of the wind scale. '10-12 knots suits us best,' says Neil. 'We’ve done two regattas with the boat as she is. The learning curve is steep, but we are getting better with every outing.'

Don’t underestimate the weekend warriors on FfreeFire 52, Sam Chan’s TP52. Described elsewhere as a 'keen local sailor and well-know on the Asian Circuit' Sam and his regulars won the CSR in 2004, the San Fernando Race in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2007, and the Hainan Race in 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2007. They also hold the records for San Fernando (2001) and Hainan (2005). Skipper Russ Parker would like to add another the CSR to the trophy cabinet. 'It all comes down to the last few miles – making sure that you can get to the finish line and not get caught in the bunker.' If that means trading distance against a good arrival time, FfreeFire 52 is prepared to make the call.

Armchair sailors left at home will be able to watch the progress of the race on www.purplefinder.com where positions will be updated every two hours.