China Coast Regatta Day 1

Although the forecast looked grim, the wind was better than expected across the race track for Day 1 of the China Coast Regatta. Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen managed to find a patch of westerly breeze averaging 6kts southeast of Hong Kong's Lamma Island. 25 boats from all IRC Racer divisions were sent on windward/leeward courses and two yachts from IRC premier Cruising division were set an islands course around Waglan and Sung Kong.

A sudden southerly shift kicked in after IRC Racer O started their second race, forcing the Race Officer to abandon Race 2 for IRC Racer 0 after which all IRC Racer divisions enjoyed a lunch break whilst waiting for the race management team to relocate the marks. All IRC racer divisions were subsequently set another windward/leeward course for Race 2 in a south-westerly breeze.

Given Sunday's forecast for lighter wind, race management decided to add another windward/leeward race for Day 1. In all, each IRC Racer division finished three windward/leeward sausage courses with happy smiles under hazy sky and an average of 6 to 8kts of breeze.

Among the five strong giants in IRC Racer 0, Sam’s Chan TP52 FreeFire took two firsts to give him the Overall IRC Racer 0 Division title at the end of Day 1, Marcel Liedts’s Ker 46 Zannekin third place finish in Race 1 and second place finish in Race 2 meant they kept their overall second place.

For IRC Racer 1 division, Yuye Yan’s Ker 42 Custom Seawolf took two firsts in the first and third races, four points ahead of Joachim Isler /Andrew Taylor’s Ambush. Ellian Perch’s Cape 31, Orion DYP, which made the journey to Hong Kong from South Africa, is now in overall third place.

Noel Chan and Denis Ma’s Rampage is now leading in IRC Race 2 overall and for IRC Racer 3, it was a tough battle where Mei Han Chung’s Dexter II is just one point ahead of Nick Southward’s Whiskey Jack.

Speaking of the race course for Day 2, Race Officer Strompf-Jepsen said the race management team would carefully monitor the weather tomorrow morning before making a decision.

Three more boats from HKPN division will also join the weekend action.

Keep up with the latest news on the China Coast Regatta visit: https://www.chinacoastraceweek.com/news