Commodore’s Message

Commodore Lucy Sutro

Kung Hei Fat Choi, Happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit!

It really was fantastic to see so many members at Kellett Island on New Year's Eve and no doubt more members came down after Government's announcement only a few days before that they were dropping most of the anti-epidemic measures, including the lifting the cap on group gatherings and the number of people that could attend an event. We are at long last out of the arduous three years of restrictions and 2023 and the Year of the Rabbit is looking very positive.

I again wish to give my thanks to all of you for your incredible patience over the past three years of restrictions and to the staff for having to stay on top of and implement all of the ever-changing restrictions.

With the removal of all of the mandatory PCR tests for incoming travelers, travel to Hong Kong is that much more appealing and we look forward to seeing more of our absent members return for a visit and also to extend a warm welcome to international competitors at our races and regattas. We have had a few international competitors in the past few months but now we expect an exponential increase which is marvelous.

Speaking of which, the Sun Hung Kai & Co., Hong Kong Race Week and the 2023 29er Asian Championship are taking place from 14 to 19 February at Middle Island and we're absolutely thrilled that we have competitors coming over from the Mainland of China, Macau, Taiwan and Greece! At the time of writing in early January, the Sailing Office is expecting to receive entries from Thailand, Australia, Japan and India.

We are also at long last be able to celebrate after races and regattas with a prizegiving!

Not only are we seeing a return of international competitors to our events, but we are also finally going offshore again! The Rolex China Sea Race is making its long-awaited return on Wednesday 5 April and 2023 is the 61st Anniversary of the first Race. More on the Rolex China Sea Race in next month's issue.

There is more exciting news in terms of the Club’s fleet of dragon boats; last month we took delivery of four new dragon boats. These 10-man boats will be based at Kellett Island giving us more opportunities for midweek training, corporate team building events and helping with logistics for our big events like the Kellett Island Cup. This now brings the Club’s total fleet of dragon boats to 14.

In last month's message I mentioned that we will be having a General Committee Town Hall on the 8th of this month. By now more information on this has been sent out via email and I look forward to seeing you there.