Rampage 88 claims a hat-trick overall win in Sun Hung Kai & Co. Around the Island Race
by RHKYC Media 20 Jan 00:55 PST
Sun Hung Kai & Co. Around the Island Race © RHKYC/ Isaac Lawrence
After being postponed due to Tropical Cyclone Trami on Saturday, 26 October, the Sun Hung Kai & Co. Around the Island Race, a 26 nm circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island, took place on Saturday, 18 January, in picture-perfect conditions. An impressive entry list of 227 boats competed in this year's event, which is Hong Kong's biggest annual celebration of sail.
The Around the Island Race is a 'must-do' for all local sailors. More than 100 big boats from all sailing clubs competed, and other entries ranged from single-handed dinghies, 29ers, 49ers, seven one-design classes, sportsboats, catamarans, to 50-foot-plus cruising yachts. Korean sailor Hojun Song, who participated in the Rolex China Sea Race 2024, brought his boat Random() back to Hong Kong just to take part in this iconic race.
Given the sheer number of boats, Race Officer David Norton set two start lines off the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Kellett Island Clubhouse, with the line closest to Kellett Island used for starting the one-design boats and the outside line for PHS, IRC, and Hobie 16 divisions.
This year's Around the Island Race marks 160 years since the first race to circumnavigate Hong Kong Island was held, which featured a mere six entries. Sailors have since regarded this route as a tricky challenge with unpredictable wind shifts and strong tides.
The Round the Island Race became an annual event with multi-class entries in 1983; however, between 1994 and 2002, this race took on a different form due to traffic restrictions and heavy congestion in the Central Fairway of Victoria Harbour. The start was at Kellett Island, and the course was around the east of Hong Kong Island to Bluff Head, returning to finish at Kellett Island.
In 2003, as one of the initiatives to reinvigorate post-SARS Hong Kong, the Marine Department approved a 26 nm circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island, allowing for a full circumnavigation in the case of sufficient breeze. The event was then renamed the Around the Island Race.
The first start was at 0830hrs, with the Pandoras, dinghies, and PHS monohulls setting off in an easterly breeze of around 2 to 3kts. The last division to set off was the fast fleet, comprising three TP52s, at 1100hrs. In all, there were 21 starts. The wind was rather light in the harbour, causing the fleet to squeeze through Lei Yue Mun slowly. Several Sportsboats and Etchells led the fleet out of Lei Yue Mun Gap and were the first boats to round Cape D'Aguilar.
Once the fleet sailed out of the harbour, they were greeted by 10 to 12kts of breeze at Shek O and Stanley, allowing them to hoist their spinnakers going downwind, creating a colourful sight with hundreds of kites on the horizon. Two 49ers surged ahead in the ideal conditions, taking the lead.
Although the wind softened to around 2 to 3kts at Cyberport, causing a short period of doldrums, it was still enough to keep most of the fleets on course for full circumnavigation. At this point too, the three TP52s started to take over the majority of the fleet. At the western side of the harbour, sailors came back to Kellett Island having had a nice reach rather than a frustrating beat against the tide and current.
In the end, Casey Law's 49er Peppa held off to be the first boat to cross the finish line at 1412hrs. Noel Chan's TP52 Rampage 88 finished 22 minutes behind, taking the ATI overall win for the third year in a row. Another TP52, Sam Chan's FreeFire, took second place overall, and William Liu's Seawolf in third overall.
In the PHS division, results were counted at Cyberport gate. Raymond Yip's Harpseal was the overall winner, Raymond Wu's Tornado took 2nd place, and Wing Hung Ng's No One Else took PHS 3rd place overall.
Deputy Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen summed up the conditions, "The day was full of surprises. It started slowly, as some groups were starting together at the same time due to not enough wind. The race management team had been talking about whether we should shorten the course and where to shorten it. Race Officer Dave Norton agreed with her sentiments, "There wasn't a hole at Cyberport like there normally is - making the full circumnavigation possible. The tide was either with them or it was neutral, so they had an easier second half of the race. It was actually a much better race, and even though we started slow, we saved a lot at the end. According to the great atmosphere in the Club, I think everybody enjoyed themselves."