Rolex China Sea Race line honours awarded

by KPMS on 7 Apr 2012 Genuine Risk crossed the finish line of the 2012 50th Anniversary Rolex China Sea Race on Saturday, April 07 at 02:43.26 (UTC +8).

A dockside prizegiving ceremony took place shortly upon arrival in Subic Bay. Rolex Philippines representative Wolfgang Weibach presented owner Geoff Hill with his Rolex Yacht-Master Timepiece.

Hill related Genuine Risk’s race. 'The race started a bit more complex than we thought. We had a bit of breeze out to the oil rigs, then it died off again. Our plan was to go south of the rhum line and come up and we effectively stuck with that. Thursday was a difficult day for us, it was light and while the boat went okay we would have liked more breeze. The wind started to fill in last night and we had really good sailing for the past 24 hours: 10-12 knots and we were doing about 12-14 knots. The boat was going very, very well and we had smooth seas and a full moon so, what more can you ask for?'

'We enjoyed the race,' continued Hill, 'it was tactically very demanding because of all the changes in the breeze. But this boat was out on the water for the first time in nearly 12 months so we are very pleased with the way it went. We had a new crew and that’s all come together pretty well, so we’ve had a really good race. I think if we had gotten the breeze we could have broken the record- we are pretty confident of that- but we didn’t get the breeze. That’s what ocean racing’s all about.'

Hill confirmed that he will begin seriously campaigning Genuine Risk this year on the Asian circuit and is considering also racing the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race with Sydney-Hobart race veteran Syd Fisher.

05:00 (UTC +8) update: Hi Fi is currently 68.9nm to the finish, with FreeFire trailing by 20nm. A difficult morning is expected for the 52-footers as the coastal breeze typically only picks up around 10:00.

Rolex China Sea Race website