Yi Sun-Sin Cup International Yacht Race - Team Korea in action

by Clifford Webb on 15 Oct 2011 Following on from the success of the last America’s Cup World Championship Series in Plymouth, Team Korea was back on the water today, officially competing in the famous Yi Sun-Sin Cup International yacht race. It’s the first time that the team has sailed on Korean waters, and as expected, the news that Korea’s own America’s Cup entry would be represented in the regatta was greeted with excitement.

The difference between sailing their AC45 catamaran, the ‘White Tiger’, couldn’t be much greater though, as Skipper Chris Draper is sailing a J-24 in this fun ORC event which has attracted over 90 entries from 16 different countries, and is being used to help add to the awareness of the team and the America’s Cup in Korea. Chris is delighted to be sailing together with three top Korean sailors, Jung Sung-An and Yun Chul who are ex-Olympic 470 sailors who competed in the Barcelona Games, and Kim Hyung-Do, another well known 470 sailor.

This is the fifth time the regatta has been staged in Tongyeong City on the south east coast, and has a huge reputation for tourism and marine activities, and is especially famous for its bountiful supplies of fresh anchovy which are caught locally and cooked immediately on the water in nearby floating kitchens to maintain freshness.

The event is named after Korea’s Admiral Yi Sun-Sin, the country’s most celebrated naval leader, who in 1598 achieved a remarkable victory over the invading Japanese navy at the battle of Myeongnyang off Tongyeong City, when his 13 specially built battle ships defeated the 333 ships from Japan. He is regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in world history, and was undefeated in his 23 naval battles. Yi devised the famous Geobukseon, the ‘Turtle Ship’, an armour plated ‘closed’ ship with a rounded spiked roof that was almost impossible to board, and which deflected arrows and musket shot. It had five types of cannon, could fire in any direction, and could launch flames through a dragon headed bow. A replica ship was on the water today to commemorate Admiral Yi Sun-Sin as the races began, a reminder of his naval brilliance that saved the country from invasion.

Even though it’s an amateur event organised by the local Gyeongsangnam-do Sailing Federation, the will to win is ever present it seems, as Draper and the Korean crew were the first J-24 to finish in both Open Class races today.

Chris said, ‘It was good fun but the wind was light and shifty, and the start lines were a little bit crazy so we tried our hardest not to get hit by anybody! We actually sailed quite well I thought considering we’d never even met until yesterday, though communications were a little difficult at times due to my lack of Korean, but the boys did a great job and it was really a enjoyable day’’. Team CEO Kim Dong-Young said, ‘This is an opportunity for people in Korea to meet Chris and for some of our sailors to get to know him. We plan to start training Korean sailors shortly and we hope to have them on the AC45 in the near future, and certainly as part of the crew for the AC72. People are very excited about what we are doing and how the team is sailing in the America’s Cup World series events so far – it’s all very positive for the sport here’.

A long distance race is planned to conclude the regatta on Sunday.

Team Korea website