Sail-World Asia Newsletter
by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia 22 Oct 2018 19:16 NZDT
2018 China Coast Regatta – Day 2 © RHKYC / Guy Nowell
Well, there’s another event ticked off the Asian sailing calendar: China Coast Raceweek. A combination of the China Coast Regatta (sausages and islands) and a 390nm offshore to Hainan, and good weather all the way. During the inshore series there was never less than 10kts over three days, and at one point the RO was seeing 27kts on the clock. Free Fire cleaned up IRC 0 with a race to spare. With MOD70 Beau Geste delayed in the Philippines, SHK Scallywag Fuku (ORMA 60) didn’t have anyone to race against and spent two days happily hooning around the race course and buzzing the Committee Boat. Beau Geste arrived in time for the long race to Hainan, but Scallywag broke a foil 90nm out of Hong Kong and once again it was a one-boat race for the multihulls. Joachim Isler’s Ambush pulled out all the stops to win the IRC Overall title for the long race.
It was a cracking event, sailed in perfect weather very similar to the inaugural China Coast Cup in 1993. The breeze is good more often than not at this time of year. So why isn’t there a bigger entry list - considering that Hong Kong has more sailing and racing boats right here than anywhere else in south east Asia, and why is it only a three-day regatta? Just wondering…
Standing by on 72.