RHKYC Autumn Regatta 2011 - another great day out

by RHKYC Media and Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 19 Sep 2011 RHKYC Autumn Regatta 2011 - Wind Guru delivered on its promises today, the second day of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s Autumn Regatta. With Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen finding seven to nine knots first thing, a Hung Hom start was selected, but the wind gradually filled in so that the fleets started in a steady 14kt easterly, gusting to 18kts. The breeze lasted through the day, offering some great sailing in Hong Kong’s iconic Victoria Harbour.

The gusty conditions made for some exciting starts, particularly when the swing offered a committee boat bias, with more than one boat being manoeuvred off the line. The J/80 fleet was subjected to a particularly strong gust, taking five boats over the line before the start, three of whom failed to return.

A couple of hours sailing and several retirements later, the fleets were all finished and Strompf-Jepsen was able to raise the AP to get the final start sequence underway.

In probably the bumpiest conditions of the weekend, the third start produced the most shouts of ‘protest!’ with several instances of contact between boats. The race also featured some of the closest boat-on-boat racing of the weekend, particularly in the Big Boat B fleet with Whiskey Jack narrowly pipping Vixen to the gun at the end of an enthralling duel.

After a great day on the water, there were no protests to be heard, and a well attended prizegiving rounded off the weekend.

IRC 1
1 Ambush Isler/Taylor
2 Free Fire Sam Chan
3 Minnie the Moocher Nigel Snell
IRC 2
1 Whiskey Jack Nick Southward
2 Gambit Keith Mowser
3 Rampage Denis Ma
HKPN
1 Happy Hour Alvin Ho
2 Gambit Arthur Ho
3 Golden Delight Fred Lung
Flying Fifteen
1 Tchaikoffsky Howard Williams
2 No Name Ogawa/Ishi 2
3 Final Fantasy Yama/Hiro
Impala
1 Taxi Florence Kan
2 Impala 1 Gaston Chan
3 Moll Philip Bowring
J/80
1 Joss Rob Tanner
2 J/Chi Jonny Hodgson
3 Hakawati Dan Tullberg
Dragon
1 Fei Mei Karl Grebstad
2 Kam Loong Simon Chan
3 Hung Tai David Poon
Etchells
1 Quest Fred Kinmonth
2 Easy Tiger Marty Kaye
3 Gunga Din Ben Williams
Sportsboats
1 Merlin Steve Bourne
2 Fly by Wire Frank van Kempen
3 Catch 22 Mark Phillips
Ruffian
1 Victory 9 Lee Fook Hing
2 Helios Anthony Tong
3 Bandolero Soo/Seah
Pandora
1 Pasisana Joseph Wong
2 Panache Edmond Chan
3 Solstice K W Chair