RHKYC Nations’ Cup 2019
by RHKYC and Sail-World Asia 30 Apr 2019 23:50 AEST
28 April 2019
RHKYC Nations' Cup 2019: the Heavy Mob © RHKYC / Guy Nowell
The RHKYC’s annual Nations’ Cup is an excuse for a day of unashamed nationalistic jingoism, lots of flags (the bigger the better), some very silly dress-up costumes, and an occasion to get a whole bunch of new people out on the water. In short, it’s FUN, and if you read the principal news sources that concern themselves with sailing, there’s a common thread going round that we (sailors) are all too serious and need to loosen up a bit.
It’s not the America’s Cup, but even though the nationality requirements are a good deal more stringent, there are a lot more entries! Over 60 sailing crews represented 17 nations (Hong Kong, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands, England, Sweden, Turkey, New Zealand, Scotland, Germany, USA, Ireland, Belgium, France, Italy and Japan). Yes, there’s a trophy, and the winning nation’s bragging rights includes the right to have their nation’s flag in the RHKYC Main Bar for a year.
They all came: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un (with bodyguards), and the Pope. There was a raffish crew of Cheung Po Tsai pirates, some English Crusaders still trying to find their way home from the Holy Land, a surly mob of Gilets Jaune from France, and even a Brexit boat flying England and EU flags on opposite shrouds. “We did really badly,” said Nick Atkinson, skippering Uffa Fox Ache. “Much like Brexit, we couldn't decide which way to go to save our lives". The Vatican was there, but the communion wine came before sailing tactics. Another Italian crew covered some extra distance when they couldn’t find TCS4 – which is a navigation mark, not an orange buoy. Half the harbour was smeared with orange (those Surprising Dutch), and Past Commodore Joachim Isler dug out the deerskin lederhosen. “Very comfortable. Good for hiking…”
From a Hung Hom start, the course went out to TCS4 and back to the Kowloon Bay mark. The HKPN boats went straight to a finish at the Club line, while the IRC racers returned to Shau Kei Wan before following back to Kowloon Bay and then the Club.
Racing under ATI handicap, last to start but first across the finish line were Mark Thornburrow and Andy Service representing Hong Kong on a Flying Phantom foiling catamaran, and under Nations’ Cup rules, first across the line takes the title for their country. After a bit of a wait, Ireland (Jamie McWilliam, Etchells) snatched second place from England (Richard Allen, Etchells) by a skinny 5 seconds. Anyone close enough might have heard a non-PC ‘69’ comment from the Crusaders, but Nations’ Cup Special Regulations allow friendly expletives as long as a ‘penalty round’ is bought in the bar later.
Commodore John Woo, posing as a thoroughly unqualified Doctor, sailed on Karina (HKG). “We had a great day; the wind was constant, and the racing was spot on. We are here to support and say cheers to all of Hong Kong's medical professionals who work so hard, and hope to give them a morale boost by dressing like them.” Anyone for an intravenous drip? At the end of the day the race management team singled out Karina for the best-dressed crew award.
Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen set a course that was intended to be “easy to handle for teams that are not used to sailing together, interesting enough without being too long, and one that could be shortened if necessary. The only thing that went wrong was Baby Beluga leaving the finish pin on the wrong side, coming back upwind under spinnaker, and then hooking and carrying away the mark - all in front of an appreciative gallery on the RHKYC terrace.
Having won this event more times than any nation, New Zealand may have been disappointed with a 6th place finish. But Kiwimeister Drew Taylor, helming Ambush, described it as “a lovely day on the water. The breeze was reasonable; we had eight on board which wasn't really enough - but being Kiwis we rose to the challenge and I think we got round the racecourse reasonably well.” Similarly, Australia was very positive. Olly Merz said “It was a great day for Australia and everyone finished. Being on the podium is a bonus – ‘sailing’ was the real winner today.”
In the end Hong Kong was crowned top nation for the first time in the history of the Nations’ Cup. In second place was Ireland followed in third by England. Then came Belgium, Australia and New Zealand rounding off the top six. Best Dressed Crew was Hong Kong’s Karina and Best Dressed Boat was Helios.