Coastal Race – Persistence W O RD S: VIVIA N N G A N A ND NIKKI CL A RIN GB O L D | IM AGES:
VIVIA N N G A N |
C A MERO N F ERGUS O N |
NI CK S O U T H WA RD |
Feature | Coastal Race – Persistence Prevails! Persistence prevails when all else fails! It was forecasted to be light winds for the first day of the Coastal Race as 17 boats started off Shek O Rock at 1100hrs in a 3kts southerly breeze eventually leading to only six boats managing to finish the 83nm racecourse. A marathon coastal race that was a true test of perseverance and endurance!
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s a replacement race of the Rolex China Sea Race, deferred from 2020 to 2021 and eventually cancelled due to Covid-19, the Coastal Race was scheduled for Easter Saturday, 3 April. Along with the usual offshore race entries including the winner of China Coastal Race Jinn, Whiskey Jack and Ambush, a variety of cruisers joined the Easter action, including four yachts from Aberdeen Boat Club and Discovery Bay Yacht Club. Also amongst the entries were several shorthanded crews – two double-handed entries Concorde and Tuatahi Decathlon, and one single-handed entry Blue One. Race Officer Ailsa Angus opted for an 83nm racecourse around the beautiful islands of Hong Kong, with the fleet first sailing down
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| JUNE 2021 AHOY!
to Lamma, along the southern shore of Soko Islands, then continuing on up to Nine Pin and Shek Ngau Chau before finishing off Tung Lung Chau. The breeze remained light and challenging during the first half of the race. The fleet searched for any bit of breeze to keep their boats rolling out of the start. The leading boat Ambush elected to head inshore towards the tip of Cape D’Aguilar and leaving Kau Pei Chau to port, while others in the fleet opted to head between Kau Pei Chau and Po Toi in search of breeze. Managing to sail past Lamma in 12kts of steady breeze, Ambush inevitably saw the breeze die at the bottom of Soko Island, leaving her wallowing just 200m off the
westward SKLMP mark – in a building tidal current, going backwards she opted to anchor for over 6 hours. Before the tide turned on 2100hrs on Saturday, many boats dropped their anchor, broadcast music and enjoyed a nice supper. A group of finless porpoises provided much needed light entertainment for others. “We were joined by a large school of Hong Kong’s rare finless porpoises which currently number only around 220. They joined us, silently going about their day,” said Nikki Claringbold on board Ambush. Myra Kwok, a new crew on board Daydream was amazed by the wildlife as well. “We saw many jellyfish along the way, and we even saw sea sparkle out of the darkness.”
