The Steelcase Dragon Run

On Saturday 13 November 2021, more than 40 Club paddlers took part in the 15th edition of the Steelcase Dragon Run, an independently organised event that takes place annually in November due to favourable sea conditions created by the northeasterly monsoon. The event which welcomes outrigger canoe OC1s, OC2s and surf skis had three racecourses for paddlers to choose from, a long course from Clear Water Bay out to the Ninepin Islands and down to Stanley Main Beach, a short course (named Chicken Run!) from Stanley Main Beach out to Cape D’Aguilar and back to Stanley and finally a Novice Course that was in Deep Water Bay for the first time this year. I hope you enjoy experiencing each of the three races through the perspective of Club paddlers through the following articles!

Steelcase Dragon Run Long Course 2021

WORDS: CHRISTINA PARK | IMAGES: STEFANO DI MICHIEL

his internationally renowned premier paddling race was started in 2007 by a small group of passionate surf skiers – Andy Orr, Oscar Chalupsky, Rob Wall, Rene Appel and Jon Dingley. Thanks to the pioneers, every year local paddlers and international paddlers alike look forward to the beautiful downwind course starting from Hong Kong’s iconic Clearwater Bay and ending at Stanley beach. This year not only was the traditional long course’s title up for battle but also the titles for the short course and the inaugural novice course, to accommodate all paddlers of different experiences and interests.

Conditions were smaller than previous years, which made for a more technical paddle that required steady endurance. Paddling requires reading the waves and swells and being able to connect opportunities to surf continuously. VRC’s Nick Scott took home the OC1 men’s title and for the OC1 women’s category, our very own women’s captain, Stephanie Tovoli, won the coveted first prize. Generous prizes and bragging rights were handed out to the top 5 of each category. Of the 10 OC paddlers who podiumed, 8 were RHKYC paddlers, marking another achievement and milestone for the club.

Due to continued challenges with COVID and travel restrictions, the race entrants were all from Hong Kong for a second consecutive year. During the past races, the number of local Hong Kong entrants averaged around 70 athletes with a split between 25% Outrigger Canoe (OC) paddlers and 75% Surf ski paddlers. However, this year there were a total of 170 entrants with about 50% being Outrigger Canoe paddlers, reflecting just how much the paddling community has grown in Hong Kong. Race organizer Bruce Seymour, who is an avid paddler himself, shared that he expects a steady flow of 100 overseas paddlers to participate each year and when Hong Kong opens up again, the race will look forward to accommodating a record number of participants. We look forward to our boarders opening up again and welcoming our paddle Ohana from all parts of the globe. I’d like to take this time to thank our captains, coordinators and volunteers for making this event and season possible. Paddling has provided a much needed outlet during these turbulent times and the paddling community has provided a steadfast family, in the absence of being able to visit our loved ones. Congratulations to Men’s captain Ryan Lopes (2nd), David Smith (4th), Tom Armistead (5th) and Sarah Wilson (2nd), Christina Park (3rd), Erin Juhl (4th) and Martina Redaelli (5th).

Men's OC1 short course winner

he Dragon Run Short Course is a 10Km race starting at Stanley main beach through Tai Tam Bay, racing to the marker at Cape D’aguilar (affectionately known as ‘Kissing Whales’) then back to Stanley main beach. A record 43 participants entered with 19 women entering: one double surf ski, 15 OC1 and three surf ski females. 24 men entered: two double surf ski, seven OC1, one OC2 and 14 surf skis.

The organisers decided on a mass start with all 43 participants lining up from Stanley main beach pier across the bay to a buoy. It was a great atmosphere to start the race with so many other paddlers. The weather conditions on the day were clear and sunny with moderate NE winds force 4 to 5 which caused ‘ama side’ swells for the race leg out to Cape D’aguilar. This was upwind and cross wind racing with the tide moving from high to low flowing out of Tai Tam bay. Heading back to Stanley main beach, it was downwind with a cross headwind, which meant it was surfing time. This makes the race upwind so worth the race back to the finish line. The overall winner of the race was Thomas Chiu who raced the course on a Surfski with a winning time of 52m 53s. An impressive seven out of 15 OC1 women and four of the seven OC1 men were representing RHKYC.

RHKYC Women results: Double Surfski

1st Karen Seymour (VRC) and Yan Yan Li (RHKYC) 54m 46s.

RHKYC OC1 Female

1st Jill Carroll 1h 2m 46s 2nd Elena Kucherenko 1h 4m 15s 4th Vicki Easton 1h 8m 58s 6th Tatiana Filippova 1h 10m 56s 7th Amy De Vera 1h 11m 8s 11th Maud Duquesne 1h 16m 36s 15th Claire Ollivier 1h 21m

RHKYC OC1 Male

1st Duncan Smith 1h 2m 6s 2nd Chris Tickle 1h 2m 27s 4th Luis Segovia 1h 7m 50s 5th Philip Chou 1h 7m 59s

RHKYC OC2 Male:

1st William Chalmers and Victor Zhang 58m 29s

RHKYC Surfski:

7th Adam Cowperthwaite 1h 24m 8s

Jilly short course winner

Rowing Manager rowingmanager@rhkyc.org.hk Coastal Rowing coastalrowing@rhkyc.org.hk Shatin Men’s Racing shatinrowingmen@rhkyc.org. hk Shatin Women’s Racing shatinrowingladies@rhkyc.org.hk

he Steelcase Dragon Run had a Novice Course for the first time in its history and for most of us racing, it was our first race in an OC1 or OC2. To add to this, I found myself in an OC2 with my husband. The first time we had been in an OC2 together since the OC Novice Course back in April and let’s just say, that experience hadn’t gone well. To the extent, I’m pretty sure I vowed it would be the last time we were ever in an OC2 together. However, with the lure of the opportunity to race, just this once, I was prepared to retract my comments back in April and sign up to race with my husband.

11 paddlers gathered near the VRC for our race briefing, knowing that the Long and Short Courses had taken place, a couple of paddlers who had just raced, came down to the VRC and as always it was great to see some friendly faces. Thank you to Jilly Carroll for your words of encouragement – they stuck with me round the course! Claudia and Brad Tarr were friendly and helped us all label up the canoes/surf skis and check the timers were working. I must admit it did feel strange not being in an OC6!

Geoff and I had already agreed earlier on that week who was calling and steering, we had also practiced the route with our fellow RHKYC OC1s. All paddlers were in good spirits, but it’s safe to say we were nervous! I loved the fact that one of the surf skis had music set up, so as the horn went, we sprinted out towards Repulse Bay to Wham! The speedboat guiding our way had some pretty good tunes pumping out too, the way to start a race!

We focused on getting to the Repulse Bay buoys as quickly as possible, dodging the junks already in full swing. This part felt smooth and quick, but then as we began to head round the back of Middle Island towards the Pump House buoy, the water became choppier and it felt like every speedboat was targeting our route! The words of encouragement from our guiding speedboat were greatly appreciated, especially as we neared that home stretch. Last hurdle to overcome, (or dodge) was the trail of dinghies, being towed like ducklings right across our path and the moment of ‘can we make it first’, which we couldn’t, so we had to loop round, but then onto that familiar home stretch down to VRC. Crossing the finish line (and still speaking to each other!) felt great and in a way showed us both how much we had learnt in the past seven months. Celebrating our first OC2 race with such an amazing, inspirational, and encouraging group of paddlers, was such a highlight.

Bring on the Short Course 2022!