RHKYC China Coast Raceweek starts 11th October
by RHKYC Media 9 Oct 00:38 PDT
11-16 October 2019
Volvo China Coast Regatta day 3 © Guy Nowell
With less than two days to go, sailors are gearing up for Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s first major Big Boat event of the season - China Coast Race Week 2019 comprising the China Coast Regatta from 11 to 13 October followed by a Category 1 Offshore Race, the 2019 Hong Kong to Vietnam Race; a 673nm downwind passage to Nha Trang, Vietnam which starts on 15 and 16 October.
2019 marks the 27th edition of the China Coast Regatta, first established in 1993. The event is based out of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s Middle Island clubhouse, with sailors competing in a variety of windward/leeward and island courses.
The delayed arrival of the northeasterly monsoon is forecasting a light breeze for the first two days of racing. The monsoon is predicted to fill in on Sunday, bringing promising conditions for the 31 yachts competing across six divisions, with the biggest contingent coming from IRC Racer 2. Ellian Perch’s Cape 31, Orion DYP, which made the journey to Hong Kong from South Africa, is set to compete against a slew of locally-based strong competitors including Glenn Smith’s Blackjack, Herman Wong’s Kiasu and Noel Chan and Denis Ma’s Rampage.
The five-strong IRC Racer 0 division includes three TP52s: Free Fire (Sam Chan), Phoenix (Robert Wiest, Victor Kuk, David Ho) and Ark 323 (Ting Lee, Hongquan Li) from China. They are joined by another head to head competition between Marcel Liedts’ Ker 46 Zannekin and Shawn Kang’s Ker46+ Alpha +.
Many eyes will be on Fred Kinmonth and Nick Burns’ Mandrake III (IRC Racer 1 winner in 2016 and 2017) racing against Joachim Isler and Andrew Taylor’s Ambush. With Rampage II, Seawolf 2, Quest and Neo One in the mix, competition will be fierce.
IRC Racer 3 comprises six strong local teams including Dexter II, Whiskey Jack and Arcturus who will battle it out in both light wind and strong wind conditions. One thing for certain though is that the competition will be tough.
IRC Racer and Premier Cruiser Classes will be racing from 11 to 13 October, and HKPN Class racing from 12 to 13 October, with racing taking place in the waters to the east and south of Hong Kong Island, with some islands courses extending into the waters to the east of Sai Kung.
Let's get the party started! Drinks on The Lawn at RHKYC Kellett Island tomorrow (Thursday) 7.30pm, and Guy Nowell has put together a 900+ image slideshow of all the best China Coast action over the last nine years. Big Party, Saturday night, RHKYC Poolside. Final prizegiving, Monday 12 October, RHKYC Kellett Island.
Keep up with the latest news on the China Coast Race Week visit: https://www.chinacoastraceweek.com/news
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