RHKYC Spring Regatta 2012 - Day 1

May 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Overnight thunderstorms and torrential rain failed to deter the 94 crews who took to a Club start line for the first race of this year’s RHKYC Spring Regatta, held in Hong Kong’s iconic Victoria Harbour.

Race officer Simon Boyde was on the water early to find the breeze, namely 6 to 11 kts swinging from 70 to 115 degrees, with a massive ebb tide. Boyde elected to start the fleets in front of RHKYC’s Kellett Island base, and was rewarded with 10 to 12 knots for most of the 45 minute start sequence.

With a pin end bias on the line, there was fierce competition for a good start, and several Impala found themselves on the wrong side of the line before the gun, but managed to absolve themselves and continue racing.  

The day was not without its mishaps and Spencer Suen (FF15 Flying Fort) was lucky not to lose his mast when a shroud disconnected.

The conditions later on built to 14 kts before dropping to 6 with a big tidal swing of about 2.5 kts which caused some of the smaller boats to slow.  Only three boats missed the cut-off; all in a class that had selected a somewhat ambitious course.

Tomorrow’s forecast suggests ‘more of the same’, without the thunderstorms, for the two scheduled races and the RO will be out on the water early to see what he can find.  


Day 1 Results – First in Class
Class/ Division         Boat Name              Owner/ Skipper
IRC Racing Division 0   Peninsula Signal 8   Jamie McWilliam
IRC Racing Division 1   II                          Leong / Trebitsch
HKPN Division 2         No One Else               Wing Hung Ng
Dragon               Zephyr                  Tam
Etchells                    Dream On               Mark Thornburrow
Flying Fifteen         Kerfuffle                       Carlyon Knight-Evans / Lucy Sutro
Impala               Gnu                          T. Jackson
J/80                       Tigrina                  Andrew Moore / Lionel Welch
Pandora                     Windfall                  Tom Ho
Ruffian               Schannuleke      Henry Hirst
Sportsboat            Chrisago              Peter Backe