The Cariad Trophy – Hong Kong's Round the Island Record
by Guy Nowell 22 Nov 2020 23:17 PST
Mark Thornburrow (helm) ready for a crack at the Cariad Trophy (Hong Kong) © Guy Nowell / RHKYC
The Cariad Trophy dates back to 1976 and Reg Maynard’s Contessa 35, Cariad VIII, with a time of 4h 12m 0s for the 24nm circumnavigation. Reg once told me, “I can only assume plenty of people had sailed around the island before that, but nobody had bothered to record the time.”
Various people took a pop at the time between 1976 and 1990, with a Hobie 21 sailed by Dennis Wong (helm), Francis Ong and Paul Zimmerman setting the bar at 2h 41m 57m. “We were not sure which day would be the best for making the attempt,” remembers Wong. “We were waiting for the first surge in the winter monsoon. We needed the wind directly from the north, as that is the only wind direction that gives something like a beam reach for the majority of the way around the island'. The wind the day before the attempt was too strong; “we postponed, as I was afraid that we would capsize. The next day was perfect, and we had 25kts of breeze and reasonable seas all the way around.”
Francis Ong recalls that “there was only one touchy moment, going around Shek O, where the waves were a big bigger. The hull dug in, but we had enough weight out on the trapeze, so we were ok.”
Fast forward to 2013, when Nick Moloney and crew sliced another chunk off the record with an Extreme 40 sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management, for a time of 2h 13m 11s. Reefed and flying off the back of strong winds courtesy of Typhoon Haiyan, Nick and the team were able to set a new sailing speed record that had not been broken for 23 years. Ever philosophical, Moloney said afterwards, “My advice to anyone setting a new record is to enjoy the brief moment in time when you are the fastest, then quickly prepare mentally for your record to become a lost page in history, otherwise you are in for a world of pain.” Moloney also predicted… foilers next!
Last Saturday Mark Thornburrow and Rob Partridge set out for a tilt at the time on Thornburrow’s Flying Phanton OD. “The breeze was in, we had the boat in position, and the support team and the timekeepers, so we went for it. Mindful that the seas could be quite lumpy around Cape d’Aguilar, and not fancying a trip through that particular patch of water with the wind behind the beam, foiling, we set out anti-clockwise around the island. 12-15 kts of nor’easterly breeze at the start had us breaking all the harbour speed limits, 25kts of boatspeed in a 10kt zone! Carbon boats don’t show up too much on radar, right?”
Halfway round the island – Bluff Head, south of Stanley – we were ahead of the record time. Beating up past Cape d’Aguilar was ok, Shek O Rock was still good, but then we completely ran out of wind in Junk Bay. Foiling boats making 2kts really aren’t much fun. There was better breeze in the harbour, and we had a good run in to the finish, but the time was way off by then. A bit more northerly was all we needed.”
The forecast for today was “good to start, but fading,” followed by stronger wind in the latter part of the week. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the weather window. “With the right breeze angle,” says Thornburrow, “we should be able to take a big chunk out of the record.”
All: stand by to stand by.