China Coast Regatta Starts 15 October

by RHKYC Media 12 Oct 23:16 PDT 15-17 October 2021

RHKYC China Coast Regatta 2019 © Guy Nowell / RHKYC

St. James's Place China Coast Regatta 2020 © Guy Nowell / RHKYC

Having been postponed for a week thanks to Typhoon Lionrock, the RHKYC’s China Coast Regatta will be held from 15 to 17 October. Right now (Wednesday) the tail end of Typhoon Kompasu is passing south of Hong Kong and 500nm distant. Everyone – RHKYC, race management, and competitors alike – is hoping that Kompasu is well and truly departed by Friday morning!

2021 marks the 29th edition of the China Coast Regatta, Hong Kong’s premier big boat event. Running out of the RHKYC Middle Island clubhouse, 31 yachts will be competing in six divisions: TP52, IRC 1, 2, 3, Cruiser, and HKPN. Racing over the three days will include of a variety of windward/leeward, geometric and island courses, all overseen by a top-class race management team lead by Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen.

The TP52 division boasts four TP52s, with Alpha + skippered by Shawn Kang odds-on favourite after taking first place in their division in 2020. They are being challenged by Sam Chan, the irrepressible owner and skipper of Freefire, who has years of experience on this race track, and two Chinese sailing teams - Phoenix raced by Robert Wiest, Victor Kuk and David Ho, and Rampage 88 skippered by Noel Chan.

In IRC Racer 1 division, the winner is hard to predict with Ambush (Mills 41), defending champion Zannekin (Ker 46) and Seawolf 2 (Ker 42 Custom) all being potential winners. Adding Neo One (Neo 400+) and Quest (Mills 41) to the mix should spice up the competition.

2018 China Coast Regatta – Day 2 - photo © RHKYC / Guy Nowell

IRC Racer 2 is the biggest division, with eight yachts, and is more of a mixed bag as to who will come out top of the leader board. Hot favourite is probably King Mills 40 Witchcraft skippered by highly competitive sailor Nick Burns, but Rampage (Tripp 40) owned by Kelvin Au Yeung and Nightshift (Judel Vrolijk Custom 36) owned by James Verner will be snapping at their heels. Other strong contenders include Day Dream, Full Tilt, H3O, Juggerknot, and Wicked.

Favourite for IRC Racer 3 (seven entries) would have to be Admiralty Harbour Whiskey Jack (J/109) skippered by Nick Southward, but he’ll be facing a stiff challenge from Dexter II (A35) skippered by experienced helmsman Simon Wong. They are joined by a head-on competition between three Sunfast 3600s; Arcturus skippered by Dennis Chien, Ding Dong skipped by Thomas Wong and Zesst skippered by Henning Mueller, plus challenges from Goddess and Juice.

In the IRC Cruiser division, Lisa Elaine and Xena will be racing around the islands on the south side of Hong Kong. The HKPN fleet will not be racing on the Friday, but are saving their strength for the weekend when newly acquired Blowers Daughter and many recognisable names from previous editions of the regatta such as DEA II, Generations, Jibulai and Sea Wings will be participating in the action.

Images of China Coast Regatta are available free of charge for editorial use. Please credit RHKYC/ Guy Nowell. Images are uploaded here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/16_3OT2m58E0U7mrJ0X4tXecPNZgBGksY?usp=sharing