Saturday dawned bright and clear, with a light Southerly filling in just before the start of Race 1 off Discovery Bay marina. A mixed fleet of 16 starters, both mono and multi-hull, jostled for the start tight on the Committee Boat end, with Wizard taking the start and an early lead by clearing Peng Chau to port on a single tack, while the rest of the fleet beat around the island in pursuit…

Saturday dawned bright and clear, with a light Southerly filling in just before the start of Race 1, off Discovery Bay marina. A mixed fleet of 16 starters, both mono and multi-hull, jostled for the start tight on the Committee Boat end, with Wizard taking the start and an early lead by clearing Peng Chau to port on a single tack, while the rest of the fleet beat around the island in pursuit. Klementine, Intrigue Plus and Big Red (going very well to windward) were hot on her heels, though. Arconia made an early bid for the ‘Toilet Seat’ at this stage, describing multiple 360-ies pre-start, then effectively heaving-to, whilst attempting to beat with her cruising chute.

Having cleared Peng Chau, Wizard stayed low, heading direct for Kau Yi Chau. Klementine, using a little more imagination, went high and then popped her kite to reach down and overtake just before the turn. Intrigue Plus also caught up a lot of ground at this stage. As usual, the fleet then split on the run to the Ma Wan Channel. Most went left towards Disney, avoiding the strong tide, but Soko went off on a flier towards the container ports - a risky and perhaps costly strategy. Others decided not to decide and sailed straight into the ebb.

Klementine led comfortably around Tsing Ma, where the passage of the fleet was notable by a lack of incidents under the bridge. Crews concentrated hard on trying to keep spinnakers full in the fluky breeze, losing boat speed at the same time as hitting the full force of the tide. Many found themselves going backwards for a short period, including Roger the Cat which, adding insult to injury, was then asked to move aside by an amused Police boat due to the approach of a large container-vessel.

The forecast W-ly appeared in time to assist the tail enders, reinforcing the effect of the turn of the tide. Epic‘s new cutter rig looked magnificent under full sail, as she caught a lot of boats around The Brothers, including Sabi Star.

Klementine had opened up a huge lead past CP2 but then fell into a hole near Reef Island and sailed in circles, swearing mightily as the rest of the fleet charged up on her on the freshening breeze. Perhaps misled by Klementine‘s antics, a trail of other boats then sailed around CP7 instead of CP5 - or perhaps they were just using very old charts?

Wizard topped off her busy day of spinnaker wrapping by finishing with one of the most spectacular attempts to kite surf ever seen in HK. Perhaps as a result of this distraction, Roger the Cat missed the finish line and had to tack back. All in all, including a last-gasp protest concerning CP7, there seemed particularly hot competition for the ‘Toilet Seat’ in Race 1 - traditionally awarded for feats which have raised the most wry chuckles (or gasps of amazement) around the rest of the fleet. The welcome beer, ice-cold Cerveza Sol, lasted less than an hour as the thirsty crews swapped war stories.

Prizes were awarded that evening in the Gold Coast Marina Club to: Klementine, winning line honours in 3 hrs 30 mins, Epic taking first on handicap followed by Lady Luck, second, and Intrigue Plus, third. Handicaps were adjusted by up to 1% overnight and so the stage was set for Sunday’s pursuit race back to DB…

RACE 1 RESULTS:

Sunday saw 17 starters, many with sore heads. The first off was Lorien, starting at 1000; last was Klementine at 1204. The Race Officer, Ian Cusack, reported a lot of poor starts due either to not using GPS time or mis-reading the lay-out of the very tight line. However, he had a sore head as well, so didn’t make a big thing of it. Cooinda was late due to her crew trooping off to MacDonalds with 30 mins to go before her start. Sabi Star did three perfectly timed runs in preparation for her start, then stopped to chat to Soko and completely missed her gun!

Race 2 was a first in TMR history, in that the tide was in the fleet’s favour throughout. This made for a fast beat towards Ma Wan and a blistering passage under the bridge, before the tidal tactics again played their part. Without giving too many of Lady Luck‘s and Soko‘s secrets away, with a 2½ kt tide in your favour over part of the course, the direct path is not always the fastest! Perhaps Seas the Moment, was aware of this as she appeared at this stage to head for Causeway Bay - or perhaps she was just in cruising mode, being down to 2 crew.

Winds were variable too. Indeed, the fleet began catching each other as they rounded Hei Ling Chau toward a downwind finish near DB. The failing breeze, with boats searching for air, favoured boats with chutes and created a colourful sight as almost the entire fleet struggled to reach the line before their neighbours. Yellow Bolero ran right along the typhoon shelter wall but still seemed to find air; Epic bobbed around handicapped by her weight. A magnificent sight approaching the line with 15 boats fighting to the finish, where they were met by appropriately high-decibel victory tunes from John Karas and his team aboard the Committee Boat, Trakka.

More Cerveza Sol met the dry-throated crews and the prize-giving for Race 2 and Overall results was held on the Discovery Bay Marina headland as the sun set. Altogether a great day’s, indeed a marvelous weekend’s sailing.

Lady Luck took Line Honours for Race 2, together with First Place on handicap and Overall. She may notice a change to her DBPN hereafter, but that does not take away from an excellent result and two very well sailed races. Soko and Big Red also did very well, taking Second and Third on Race 2. Lorien excelled herself to take Second Overall, closely followed by Big Red.

RACE 2 RESULTS:

OVERALL RESULTS: