Top Dog Trophy Series 2021-2022
by RHKYC Media 10 May 02:42 PDT
07 May 2022
One Global HKRNVR Memorial Vase 2022 © Guy Nowell / RHKYC
The finale of the Top Dog Trophy Series 2021-2022, One Global HKRNVR Memorial Vase took place on 7 May, completing a series of four pursuit races to decide the top performing boat for the season.
With a consistent 8 to 10kts easterly breeze, the regular race management team of RO Gareth Williams and AROs Lucy Sutro, Sean Taylor and Victor Tsien elected to send the competitors on a 6.6nm course taking the fleet out through Lei Yu Mun Gap and into Hong Kong’s Eastern Approaches in order to satisfy the requirement of the HKRNVR Deed of Gift, then rounding the Junk Bay mark before returning into the eastern end of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.
A succession of starts based on RHKATI ratings began with the Pandora fleet at 1400hrs and culminated around an hour later with three TP52s - FreeFire, Rampage88 and Phoenix - with the format of the race allowing the later starters to catch the slower boats fleets and overtake them.
There was only a whispering 2kts of breeze, and drizzle, at Junk Bay; the pressure picked up again in the harbour allowing the fleet to finish the 6.6nm course plus Kowloon Bay and E1 mark for three more 'sausages' before the target finishing time at 1630hrs.
Once again, RO Gareth 'Mr Punctuality' Williams finessed near-perfect accuracy by calling the first finisher only 5 seconds from the target finish time. Pandora Windfall led the fleet for a majority of the course, but was caught and overtaken just seconds from the finish by VX One Serendipity who took the gun at 16:30:05, just a nail biting 5 seconds ahead of Windfall, and with Dragon Zephyr claiming third.
This race was the fourth and final constituent of the Top Dog Trophy Series designed to identify the most successful boat over a variety of pursuit races, courses and conditions. The current series includes the results for the Sun Hung Kai & Co. Around the Island Race (14 November 2021), the One Global Lipton Trophy (20 November 2021), the One Global Tomes Cup (30 April 2022) and of course the One Global HKRNVR Memorial Vase.
Serendipity’s win not only guaranteed that Patrick Pender would lift the HKRNVR Memorial Vase, but it also ensured Serendipity's name will be engraved on the Top Dog Trophy for the first time.
Full results can be found at: www.rhkyc.org.hk/sailingresults.aspx#HKRNVR%20MEMORIAL%20VASE%20-%20RESULTS