Hong Kong counts down to VOR arrival
by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia 16 Jan 2018 08:03 PST
20-21 January 2018
Basking in the sunshine, and ready to party! Hong Kong Race Village, VOR 2017-18 © Guy Nowell
With the Volvo Ocean Race thundering across the western Pacific en route to Hong Kong, this afternoon the Race Village at the end of the old Kai Tak runway was basking in some grade A January sunshine, ready to receive visitors. "It's the best RV location of all," said Tom Mayo, Director of stopover organisers Mayo & Calder.
Tomorrow 11.00h is the official opening ceremony for the Race Village. "Boats have destinations, not ETAs," a sage old sailor once told me. Best prediction at the moment for arrival of the fleet is some time on Friday 19 January. Team Scallywag is currently leading the charge after finding a short cut out of the Doldrums to the north of Bougainville, but with 1,700nm to go (1200 midnight 16/17 Jan) it would be a brave man who made the call right now. "This is yacht racing," as they say.
There's bags of information to be found at www.volvooceanraceHK.com - events, happenings, in-port racing, the lot. Check in, and check it out.