Hong Kong Race Week - Day 3
by Lindsay Lyons 20 Feb 2016 12:13 GMT
16-21 February 2016
Real Champagne Sailing
"We've had a great day today at Hong Kong Race Week; winds much lighter than predicted but real champagne sailing this afternoon with about 12kts, beautiful sunshine, nice white caps and it was a fantastic day. We've caught up on the schedule with all fleets except the Optimists who are one race behind but otherwise just great!" PRO Charlie Manzoni.
The Laser Radials, 4.7s and 2.4mRs were sailing in Area B in Repulse Bay today, the Optimists having moved to Stanley to try and make use of the more consistent winds in Stanley Bay. It took a while for RO Brenda Davies to find some stable wind in the Repulse Bay area and eventually they ended up setting up a course of 020 degrees and a leg length of 0.4nm for the long course and 0.35nm for the short course in Repulse Bay for Race 8 of the series.
There was a general recall for the first Laser Radial but the second attempt saw a clear competitive start for the thirteen boats and the wind was an 8kt average during the race.
The 4.7s had 18 starters today and they also enjoyed good, competitive starts with no OCSs. The three 2.4mRs were also all clear.
Racing took about 40 minutes for each of the classes and the RO moved the top marks to the right on an axis of 040 for Race 9 as the wind had moved to the right and had increased to an average of about 10kts.
There were three clear starts for each of the fleets and RO Davies was pleased with the day overall. "We had good, competitive starts and Repulse Bay was a spectacular setting for the racing. We had some up pressure during the last race and particularly at the finish making for some close and exciting finishes. Tomorrow the forecast is for stronger winds from the NE so we'll see where we go and we'll aim to get our three remaining races in."
There were four races in Area D for the 29ers and three each for the 420 and 470 fleets. All seven 29ers raced today along with eight of the nine 420s and five of the eight 470s. RO David Norton said, "The day started with 12kts of NNE breeze with nice flat water just to the west of Beaufort Island. It was grey and overcast at first, but the first and most welcome sight of Hong Kong Race Week's sun appeared soon after 1300hrs. The wind decreased as it moved to the right and we ended the day in 5-6kts of NE wind." There are two races to go tomorrow for the 420 and 470 fleets; 4 more for the 29ers. Clearly pleased with the change in weather Norton added, "What a difference the sun makes to the event; we came home in beautiful sunshine, it's warm and some of the race committee even took their jackets off!"
The Optimist fleet in Stanley had winds generally at 10kts, gusting sometimes to 15kts. The wind direction started at 025 and moved right to 050. RO Sofia Mascia and ARO Lucy Sutro were happy that all went to plan with four races scheduled and raced today with some tide in the last two races. ARO Sutro said "There was some good tight racing and we particularly enjoyed the sunshine in the afternoon and we are looking forward to tomorrow."
Windsurfers' RO Barry Truhol was also happy saying "The windsurfing was great today; we had four races, some planing, some pumping. We had great weather and the sailors are happy." The wind on the course was between 7 to 15kts at a consistent angle.
The Green Fleet had a great day with the full contingent of 12 boats out. RO Alex Hill managed a full schedule with two practice starts, three official races, two more practice starts and one final practice race. The wind was between 4kts and 10-12kts at the top and all the races were fairly clean and noone was over early. Hill is pleased with the young sailors' progress saying, "Today we instituted more racing rules; training in terms of windward boat keep clear and overtaking boat keep clear, port, starboard and started to talk about some of the finer points of group sailing tactics and rules. The kids seemed to take it on board quite well. They are really improving; the length of time it takes for the last starter to cross the line after the starting gun had reduced and there is a lot of improvement in boat handling and boat speed. They are all doing a great job."
Provisional results at www.hongkongraceweek.com/#!results/c17ko