Hong Kong to Vietnam Race starts 15 & 16 October
by RHKYC Media 19 Jun 2019 18:02 AEST
15 & 16 October 2019
2017 Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race. Mascalzone Latino, Antipodes © Guy Nowell / RHKYC
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's biennial Hong Kong to Vietnam Race, a 673nm warm weather fast passage down to Nha Trang on the south-eastern cost of Vietnam will start on 15 and 16 October. The Race is both physically and tactically challenging; predominantly downwind in 25 to 30 knots with current, shifts and exclusion zones to account for before dealing with the vagaries of Nha Trang Bay.
2019 marks the 9th edition of the Race and, to date, has received nine entries including Meitatsu Fukumoto and Seng Huang Lee's ORMA 60 trimaran, SHK Scallywag Fuku. There is no doubt that any attempt to break the race record will be a pleasure to watch. The current race record of 42h 17m 24s was set in 2015 by Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin 100 clocking an average VMG of 15.8 knots.
The start is split over two days with the slower IRC Racer 2 and IRC Cruiser divisions setting out first and IRC 1, 0 and the MOCRA Multihull Class starting 24 hours later. The sequence acts predominantly as a safety measure with the bigger boats coming up behind the smaller fleet for support should they get into any trouble. An added feature is having all the boats converge as they head into the finish in Nha Trang for the on-location prizegiving celebrations.
For those that have sailed in the Vietnam Race, it's a race they keep coming back to as summed up by the skipper of Alive, Duncan Hine, on arrival into Nha Trang after taking the Line Honours win in the 2017 Hong Kong to Vietnam Race. "It was wonderful. The race is the best, this is our second-time racing in it and I'm sure we will be back." Alive was also the IRC Overall Winner 2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Race Chairman, Joachim Isler said "Without Question this one of the most rewarding offshore races on the globe. Downwind surfing for almost 700nm in 20-30 knots of wind and tropical temperatures - it doesn't get better than that. The race is not without challenges though - all in all a very special and unique Race!"
The Hong Kong to Vietnam Race is recognised as a qualifying race for the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
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