St Regis International China Coast Regatta - day 2

by Lindsay Lyons on 14 Oct 2012 Day 2 of the St. Regis China Coast Regatta dawned with glassy waters and limp flags, leading to the AP being displayed at 0825hrs while the Race Officer Charlie Manzoni took to the water in a bid to find some wind and get some racing in for the fleet.

While the sailors enjoyed their nth coffee and another piece of toast, Manzoni covered the extent of the race area, finally finding around 3 to 5 kts of breeze on the Lamma patch and ordering the removal of the AP at 1040hrs, giving competitors two hours to get out to the start area.

All 36 entrants reported in good time to the start area, with all fleets being set a two-lap windward/ leeward on a 0.9nm course for Racing Div 0 and 1, together with Premier Cruising, while Racing Div 2, Classic Cruisers and HKPN were given 0.7nm.

IRC 0 got underway in an undulating 3 to 4kts of ESE breeze, followed by IRC 1 then 2.Stella contrived to be over at her start, but exonerated herself, as did Gambit, Red Kite and Barnstormer. Premier Cruising, Classic Cruising and HKPN enjoyed a combined start, all perfectly behaved.

A slow, steady race punctuated by regular wind shifts ensued, with Freefire taking line honours and first on corrected time in Div 0, Peninsula Signal 1 doing the same in Div 1 and Red Kite II replicating the feat in Div 2. Not wanting to spoil a perfect storm, Xena took a double in Premier Cruising, Goodwill did the same in HKPN and, in a very close finish with Blackjack, Authority doubled in Classic Cruising.

To the consternation of some of the boats the announcement came over the radio that the RO was contemplating an islands course … a few seconds before N over A was displayed with three guns – i.e. islands course to Middle Island!

With no protests, an early prizegiving presented by UK Sails’ Barry 'Smiler' Hayes allowed everyone to enjoy free beer on the hardstand and gather their strength for another day’s racing

Full results are available at http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/CCRResults.apsx.aspx