China Coast Regatta Starts 15 October

Having been postponed for a week thanks to Tyhoon Lionrock, the China Coast Regatta will be held from 15 to 17 October.

2021 marks the 29th edition of the China Coast Regatta, Hong Kong’s premier big boat event which was established in 1993. Running out of the Club’s Middle Island clubhouse, 31 yachts will be competing in six divisions: TP52, IRC 1, 2, 3, Cruiser and HKPN. Racing over the three days will consist of a variety of windward/leeward, geometric and island courses, all overseen by a top-class race management team lead by Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen.

The TP52 division includes four TP52s with Alpha + skippered by Shawn Kang odds-on favourite after taking first place in their division in 2020. They are being challenged by Sam Chan, skipper and owner of Freefire, who has years of experience on this race track, and two Chinese sailing teams of Phoenix raced by Robert Wiest, Victor Kuk and David Ho and Rampage 88 skippered by Noel Chan.

In IRC Racer 1 division, the winner is hard to predict with Ambush (Mills 41), defending champion Zannekin (Ker 46) and Seawolf 2 (Ker 42 Custom) all being potential winners. Adding Neo One (Neo 400+) and Quest (Mills 41) to the mix should spice up the competition.

IRC Racer 2 is the biggest contingent with eight yachts and is more of a mixed bag as to who will come out top of the leader board. Hot favourite is probably King Mills 40 Witchcraft skippered by highly competitive sailor Nick Burns, but Rampage (Tripp 40) owned by Kelvin Au Yeung and Nightshift (Judel Vrolijk Custom 36) owned by James Verner will be snapping at his heels. Other strong contenders include Day Dream, Full Tilt, H30, Juggerknot, and Wicked.

Favourite for IRC Racer 3 with seven competitors would have to be Admiralty Harbour Whiskey Jack (J/109) skippered by Nick Southward, but he’ll be facing a stiff challenge from Dexter II (A35) skippered by experienced helmsman Simon Wong. They are joined by a head-on competition between three Sunfast 3600s; Arcturus skippered by Dennis Chien, Ding Dong skipped by Thomas Wong and Zesst skippered by Henning Mueller plus challenges from Goddess and Juice.

In the IRC Cruiser division, Lisa Elaine and Xena will be racing around plenty of islands on the south side of Hong Kong. The HKPN fleet will not be racing on the Friday, but are saving their strength for the weekend when newly acquired Blowers Daughter and many recognisable names from previous editions of the regatta such as DEA II, Generations, Jibulai and Sea Wings participating in the action.