Commodore’s Message

Commodore Lucy Sutro

Welcome back from your summer break and are looking forward to a fantastic 2022-2023 season of sailing, rowing and paddling.

We had sailors of all ages making the most of easier travel this summer. We know that some of our younger Sharks sailors competed in events such as Foiling Week in Italy, Opti Worlds in Turkey, the Opti Euros in Denmark, the 29er World Championship in Spain and the SailGP Waszp event in the UK. Then our slightly older (!) sailors were seen at Cork Week and Cowes Week.

On the rowing side, for the first time ever, the Club colours were represented at the Royal Canadian Henley Masters Regatta in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. In its 138th year, this is one of the premier rowing regattas in North America. Represented by a mix of current and absent members, the Club raced in several sculling events – including singles and doubles – with the highlight of being a line honours first in the Masters Quad. More details to follow in the next Ahoy!

We don’t always hear about everyone’s adventures so if we’ve missed any event, tell us about it!

Back here at home we had an amazing run of events to mark the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR. All of our watersports were celebrated and showcased; we rolled out the red carpet for the Charity Foundation’s NGO partners, held a beach cleanup and hosted a family fun day. Every aspect of the Club was highlighted, from our core sports to our non-core sports, to our community outreach and our commitment to the environment and sustainability. My great thanks to the 25A Working Group for germinating all of the great ideas and to all member volunteers and staff for running with the ideas and bringing them to such abundant fruition.

Also held over the summer was the St. James’s Place Sunset Series and the Rowing and Paddle Sports Sunset Series. At the time of writing, final results aren’t in so you’ll need to wait for next month’s issue of Ahoy! to find out who walked away with the awards.

Looking ahead to this month, the various sailing classes will be resuming regular racing from 3 September and then we have the Autumn Regatta formally kicking off the sailing season on the weekend of 17 and 18 September. For rowing and paddling, we have the Sai Kung Coastal Challenge at Shelter Cove on 10 September and the Rowing and Paddle Sports Club Championships at Middle Island on 17 September. For race and regatta information beyond September please do have a look at the website.

See you on the water soon!

Club Interviews

If you haven’t have a chance to see these latest interviews on YouTube you're in for an absolute treat!

David Kong Past Commodore

A fascinating interview with Past Commodore David Kong (1996-1998) who was at the helm before and after an important milestone for Hong Kong in 1997. He shares what it was like to steer the Club through those times and of course his experiences in sailing.

Pixie Thomas

Pixie had absolutely no plans to come to Hong Kong but luckily for all of us she did... and the rest is history! Pixie joined the Club as a Lady Subscriber in 1981 and very quickly got involved with the San Fernando Race with Vic Locke and has only recently stepped down after 19 years on the Membership Committee. There’s also a great sprinkling of fabulous photographs from Pixie's personal archives.