5 minute read
Ladies Helm 2021
from Ahoy! May 2021
by Koko Mueller
WORDS: VIVIAN NGAN | IMAGES: GUY NOWELL
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In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Club hosted the 4th annual Ladies Helm Day on Sunday 7 March. Raced on the waters of Victoria Harbour the event followed in the footsteps of the establishment of women’s sailing at the Club which dates back almost a century, with the ‘Ladies Championship Series’ first held on 11 December 1923.
2021 saw a record turnout of 55 boats from eight classes including 89 women helms and crew coming together to join the celebrations in recognition of women’s achievements worldwide.
The event comprised of two races for each class. The first race of the day took around one hour to complete in a steady 12kts of breeze across the harbour. The ATI class and Etchells were sent on easterly course which started from Hung Hom, and continued on a 1.5 to 2 laps course between Hung Hom and Shau Kei Wan before finishing off the old Kai Tak runway. The remaining classes were designated shorter courses which took the fleets eastwards as far as Tai Koo Shing, sailing between Hung Hom and Tai Koo Shing before finishing off the old Kai Tak runway.
Race Officer, Dave Norton, said of the racing “we had challenging conditions with light shifty winds getting lighter as the day went on. These conditions and the sizeable entry list made for close racing. Excellent to see so many boats coming out today and we hope to see more regular female helms in the future. A great day on the water!”
The event encourages female sailors of all experience level to take part. The youngest helm of the day was 8 year-old Margaux Nguyen, daughter of competitive sailor Tam Nguyen, sailing in the Dragon class. Margaux went on to win her first ever race, however in a count back the overall crown eventually went to Janet Lau helming Davinloong. Tam was so proud of Margaux’s performance, “Fantastic experience for her (and
us too!!) Even though she was really scared at first! I’m really grateful to all the sailors from different classes who came to see her upstairs to congratulate her. Bo even had her open a bottle of champagne! Although still intimidated, she felt very welcome!”
The second youngest sailor was Demelsa Williams, competing on the hotly contested Flying 15 class with 10 boats. At only 13 years of age, Demelsa on Tchaikoffsky reclaimed the crown for a second time by being two points ahead of Florence Kan on Fantastic Five and last year’s winner Rosemary Merz on Noisy Forefather. The Etchells class featured the largest participation, with 15 boats. Scotia Ryer helming Race X2 narrowly beat Elise Kelly on Gunga Din and Bo Lee on Reprobate, taking the win on countback as all three boats tied on 6 points. Sharks 420 sailor Sorcha Whyte managed to finish in 5th place in the fiercely competitive fleet.
Over in the Impala fleet, Ha Yan Pui steered Taxi to victory in both races to finish ahead Clarice Chung / Vicky Lee on Pied Piper and Myra Kwok / Teresa Poon on Rainbow Chaser.
L to R: ATI 1st Place Phoenix – Kit Tong; Big Boat IRC 1st Place Vixen – Josephine Cheng; Dragon 1st Place Davinloong – Janet Lau
In the five-boat Pandora class, Yan Law from Pasisana took the win only one point ahead of last year’s champion, Connie Lee. Irene Woo and Cathy Lam sailing in the Ruffian fleet were locked in battle for both winning a first and a second with Irene Woo from Helios taking first place on count back.
In the ATI Class, Kit Tong helmed Magic 25 Phoenix to win her class for the second consecutive year. Josephine Cheng on Vixen, won the second race of the day and claimed second place overall from Deborah Fu on Calamansi on count back.
Ladies Helm Day 2021 – Results
CLASS BOAT NAME
ATI Big Boat IRC Dragon Etchelles Flying 15 Impala Pandora Ruffian Phoenix Vixen Davinloong Racer X2 Tchaikoffsky Taxi Pasisana Helios
OWNER / SKIPPER
Kit Tong Josephine Cheng Janet Lau Scotia Ryer Demelsa Williams Yan Pui Ha Yan Law Irene Woo
L to R: Impala 1st Place Taxi – Yan Pui Ha; Pandora 1st Place Pasisana – Yan Law; Ruffian 1st Place Helios – Irene Woo
With thanks to our volunteers including Race Office David Norton and his team of Bonnie Cheng, David Cain, Fiona Lam, James Wong, Johnny Li, Jeremy Kwok, Marc Alexander Baier and Orca Tsang. On the safety team: Chip Tedeschi and Philip Walker. The Club would like extend a huge thank the sponsors for their involvement in the event with supporting sponsors One Global Property Services and St. James’s Place Wealth Management, and with partners Absolute, Beefeater Gin, Havana Club, Peroni and Sail World. Their continued support allows the event to get more exceptional every year and we can’t wait to be able to celebrate each race properly soon.