China Coast Regatta

WORDS: VIVIAN NGAN | IMAGES: GUY NOWELL | VIVIAN NGAN

With Hong Kong being having been subjected to two severe tropical storms in the space of a week, the original start date of 8 October for the Club’s premier big boat event, the China Coast Regatta, was pushed back by a week. Racing finally got underway over the weekend of 15 to 17 October and the wait was worth it. Wind conditions picked up gradually throughout the three-day regatta, showcasing Hong Kong’s signature sailing conditions at its finest with great monsoon breeze, blue skies and warm waters.

Agentle 6 to 8kts easterly breeze kicked off the regatta for the start of racing on Day 1 with 21 boats taking to the racetrack located southeast of Hong Kong’s Lamma Island. All IRC racing divisions were sent off on a windward/leeward to start the day’s action with textbook racing taking place.

Conditions began to deteriorate however with some rainfall and the breeze building throughout Race 2, peaking at 20kts. Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen set an island course for the last race of the first day seeing the TP52 division and IRC Racer 1 sail a 20nm island course;

In complete contrast to Day 1, breezier conditions were forecast and came to fruition for Day 2 with a northerly breeze and blue skies greeting the sailors. The addition of the HKPN division for Day 2 of the regatta, brought the fleet tally to a total of 30 boats racing. The TP52 and IRC Racer classes raced two windward/leewards and an island course while HKPN were given one windward/leeward and an island course in picture perfect conditions.

As the day progressed, the breeze again built to 15 to 20kts, showcasing Hong Kong yacht racing at its best out on the Lamma racetrack. The building breeze put many of the crews through their paces, while the very Day 3 of China Coast Regatta certainly lived up to its reputation, putting on the ultimate in Hong Kong champagne sailing conditions. The yachts were straight into a 15 to 20kts north easterly breeze, blue skies and an increasing sea state at south east end of Lamma Island.

Under the influence of the Strong Monsoon signal which was to stay in force all day, Inge said “We feared it would have been really windy, but actually we had an average of 16 to 17kts, gusting 20kts. There were two massive gusts up to 32kts and it was very exciting!”

All divisions were sent on two-lap windward/leewards to start the day with quite a few broaches and ripped kites resulting in a few retirements.

The TP52s and all IRC classes were set a three-lap for their final race of the regatta. Whilst the race management team had originally planned on sending the HKPN division off on an islands course for their second race of the day, they were ultimately set another two-lap windward/ leeward to suit the prevailing conditions.

Inge was pleased with how Day 3 went and hoped that the sailors were happy with the arrangements, adding “we set the longest courses we could and finally put on a three-lap course for the IRC classes that would keep them racing for at least an hour. For the three-day China Coast Regatta, we set different types of courses, including two and three-lap windward/leewards and two Island courses.”

Having completed their scheduled seven races, the IRC and TP52 divisions enjoyed a discard. Odds-on favourite Shawn Kang’s Alpha+ The heavier breeze created some place changes from the two previous days. In IRC Racer 1Joachim Isler/Andrew Taylor’s Ambush took the win over William Liu’s Seawolf 2 on countback, and Nick Burns’ King Mills 40 Witchcraft took another two bullets on the final day to successfully hold off, by 3 points, James Verner’s Judel Vrolijk Custom 36 Nightshift in the most competitive IRC Racer 2 division.

In IRC Racer 3, Andrew Pidden’s J99 Juice pipped Nick Southward’s J-109 Admiralty Harbour Whiskey Jack, despite Nick notching up two wins on final day. Carl Wilkinson’s Lisa Elaine came out ahead of Bradly Wilkins’ Blowers Daughter, also on countback, to claim the HKPN division win.

Despite the initial delay due to the two storms, the China Coast Regatta was a huge success in incredible conditions. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude for our loyal sponsors and partners, as with their support our events continue to get better than ever. A huge thank you to supporting sponsors Asia Yachting, Mercedes-Benz, One Global Property Services and St. James’s Place Wealth Management, as well as partner Peroni who continue to keep our sailors very happy.

We could not have put on such a successful and safe event without our dedicated volunteers – a big shout out to the Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen and her amazing team of Bonnie Cheng, Damien Massingham, David Norton, Howie Suen, Lindsay Lyons, Tina Over, Sara Houghton, Shelia Chan, Victor Yung and the Safety team of Barry Truhol, Brett Rohsheim, Niclas Rydin, Philip Lee and Steve Wordsworth.

Another great China Coast Regatta! See you all back again next year!

China Coast Regatta 2021 15 to 17 October 2021

RANK YACHT NAME SAIL NO. OWNER TOTAL

TP 52

1st Alpha+ 2nd Rampage88 3rd Free Fire ITA46 Shawn Kang HKG 2548 Noel Chan HKG2283 Sam Chan 7 12 16

IRC Racer 1

1st Ambush 2nd Seawolf 2 3rd Quest

IRC Racer 2

1st Witchcraft 2nd Nightshift 3rd Juggerknot

IRC Racer 3

1st Juice HKG2388 Joachim Isler / Andrew Taylor Mills 41 HKG2296 William Liu Ker 42 Custom HKG2533 Helmuth Hennig/David Kong Mills 41 9 9 17

HKG2252 Nick Burns HKG 2558 James Verner HKG 1281 Gerry Sonnemans King 40

7 Judel Vrolijk Custom 36 10 J111 19

HKG 2559 Andrew Pidden J 99 8

2nd Admiralty Harbour Whiskey Jack HKG2102 Nick Southward 3rd Dexter II HKG1832 Simon Wong

HKPN Monohull

1st Lisa Elaine HKG2214 Carl Wilkinson J-109 A35 14 14

Bavaria 56 Cruiser 4

2nd Blowers Daughter 3rd Generations HKG 2603 Bradly Wilkins HKG2370 Eddy Lee Oceanis 50

4 Beneteau Sense 46 8

Hong Kong Kettle 2021

RANK BOAT SKIPPER BOAT SKIPPER TOTAL SCORE

1st Ambush Joachim Isler / Andrew Taylor Witchcraft Nick Burns 2nd Seawolf 2 William Liu Dexter II Simon Wong 25 34

3rd Rampage88 Noel Chan Rampage Kelvin Au Yeung 62

CARES FOR WHAT MATTERS.