China Coastal Race W O RD S: VIVIA N N G A N A ND NIKKI CL A RIN GB O L D | IM AGES:
小四哥 |
VIVIA N N G A N
Feature | China Coastal Race Due to the cancellation of this year’s biennial Hong Kong to Vietnam Race, the replacement event, the China Coastal Race, was held on Saturday 23 October, a Category 3 offshore race in Hong Kong waters, exploring the beautiful islands around Hong Kong. Great conditions greeted the competitors with 13 to 17kts of northerly breeze for the start at 1100hrs off Shek O Rock. Nine yachts set off on the 100nm race, making short work of the first loop of the course up the Hong Kong coastline to Basalt Island before returning to round Waglan Island.
here were some varying conditions on the first beat up to Basalt Island – with the breeze proving to be very hard to pick around the Nine Pins area where Joachim Isler and Andrew Taylor’s Mill 41 Ambush managed to momentarily fall into a hole of a measly 2kts of breeze. However, once past the Port Shelter area on the second beat, the breeze proved to be much more stable.
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| DECEMBER 2021 AHOY!
The long 28nm leg up to Ping Chau Island took the fleet through to the northern most extreme Hong Kong waters. As the boats settled in the sailors needed to closely monitor their whereabouts on the course when in proximity to the Hong Kong waters boundary as of course under the current Covid measures, anyone coming in over that invisible line might well find themselves being sent to Penny’s Bay for quarantine!
