A fresh Easterly greeted a varied fleet of fifteen starters, ranging from 22 to 51 feet overall. A short delay as the windward mark was adjusted allowed valuable trimming time, and most boats flew off the starboard end of the line. It was then immediately apparent who would be leading the fleet as Sea Eagle, Ross Dawson’s Scandia 44 replacement for Island Girl, rounded the windward mark in four minutes flat. The rest jostled to round and gave chase.
Ichiban, a Beneteau First 40.5, seemed to lose interest in the race at this stage, heading instead for Peng Chau, a quarter mile to the south. A blur of activity on board suggested problems, but it was only later that Richard Van den Berg revealed that they had lost their steering. Amazingly, they took only five minutes to fit their emergency tiller and were quickly back in the race, picking off the back markers.
The next mark - DB rocks, immediately west of the Disney construction area - would have presented few problems had not a barge-towing tug chosen that very moment to ‘thread the needle’. Serenissima, Sabi Star, Zaca, Arconia and Ichiban (hailing "I’ve got no steering!" rather than the more conventional “Water!” got the worst of it and were forced to exercise their grinders in a series of short beats to clear.
The wind strengthened and veered slightly as the fleet turned south to round Peng Chau, so that spinnakers were delayed until almost abeam Sunshine Island. Even then, many boats chose to go without, or run off slightly, under spinnaker until they could make Cheung Chau rock on a fine reach.
Returning, the crews had a tactical choice of inshore, to the north of Hei Ling Chau, for a shorter track but with lighter winds, or offshore, turning through the Sunshine ‘gap’. Most followed the leader and stayed offshore, but the deciding factor for others was the fact that the spinnaker, again, could not be held on the offshore track.
The fleet was well stretched by the finish, off Discovery Bay Marina. However, the majority finished after only 2½ hours - not bad for a 15 mile race. Line Honours went to Sea Eagle, who’s elapsed time of 1 hour 50 minutes equalled a cracking average speed of over 8 knots.
Ice-cold Heineken awaited the thirsty crews, courtesy of The Forest Bar, Peng Chau (now also a Thai restaurant). Fans, family and friends gathered for a BBQ picnic on the marina headland, where the prize-giving followed. A variety of prizes were generously provided by eco-clothier and prime sponsor THE EARTH COLLECTION, the Discovery Bay Marina Club and China Pacific Marine, Jeanneau agent for Hong Kong. The Gold Coast Yacht and Country club also offered a number of prizes, to advertise the upcoming Tsing Ma Regatta from Discovery Bay to the Gold Coast, on 2-3 November, 2002.
Congratulations go to Sea Eagle for taking first place on DBPN; Serenissima second place; and Rigel third place. Also to Rigel for snatching the Taipan Trophy, for first placed wooden boat, after an exciting neck-and-neck chase to the finish with Chris Mallet aboard Dee Bee Doo. Ichiban was narrowly squeezed into fourth place, but received a consolation prize of the Rear End Trophy (Finere Est Omnus - To Finish is Everything) for recovering so swiftly from their drama with broken steering. Finally, Roger the Cat took the multihull prize by virtue of a very late start from the opposition.
Overall, another very successful event employing the established ‘fun and friendly’ DBYC format. Now all the easier to arrange, with the growing team of sailors and supporters attracted to the new club. For more information concerning joining the DBYC or upcoming events contact info@dbyc.net
The final results are listed below. Click here for DBPN adjustments made as a result of this race.
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Results available in MS Word Format (Download)
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