Skandia set for line honours

Lindsay Lyons previews the three day long China Coast Regatta

In keeping with seasonal expectations, sunshine and a force 4 to 5 breeze are predicted for Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's three day China Coast Regatta which gets underway on Friday 22nd October 2004 with a 30-strong entry list.

The competition in IRC Racing A is looking fierce with no one taking bets at this stage on the overall winner out of five windward / leewards and two islands courses. Grant Warrington's Skandia looks set for Line Honours in each race, but Frank Pong's Jelik will be snapping at her heels all the way and will have the invaluable benefit of local knowledge. It remains to be seen if Skandia can win races by a big enough margin to keep the 50 footers at bay on corrected time.

Elsewhere in the division, David Cullen is sure to be looking for a podium finish with chartered DK46 Struan's Drumstick. He and his newly-trained crew are still revelling in their success as the first non-professional crew in their class at Cork Week and look like a force to be reckoned with. With boat and crew preparation being key issues in his Asian Circuit campaigns, Regatta veteran Neil Pryde's Hi Fidelity always has winning potential and cannot be discounted.

Also in the running is the winner of the China Coast Regatta in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Fred Kinmonth, sailing the 2004 Regatta with co-owner Nick Burns on their recently acquired Mills 50 Mandrake, will need to ensure that crew work is next to perfect in order to replicate his previous results.

There is one Vietnamese entry, chartered Farr 40 HSBC Johan III which will be skippered by Lawson Dixon. The crew consists mainly of expatriates but Vietnamese crew Le Hong Minh will be on board, representing the Title Sponsor of the Vietnam Race.

After China Coast Regatta, China Coast Race Week culminates with the VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race, commencing 1200hrs on Tuesday 26 October. The 656 nautical mile downhill race will finish in Nha Trang, where the locals have previously seen only one international yacht race.

Results:

IRC A
Sail No.	Boat Name	Skipper	Design	TCC
HKG1982	Ffree Fire	Sam Chan	ULDB Sled	1.351
HKG1888	Hi Fidelity	Neil Pryde	Welbourn 47	1.236
HKG1978	Jaywalker	Paul Bankowski	Ker 11.3	1.152
HKG600	Jelik	Frank Pong	R/P 75	1.496
HKG2000	Johan III	John Leigh / Lawson Dixon	Farr 40	1.176
HKG2166	Mandrake	Burns / Kinmonth	Mills 50	1.283
HKG818	Outrageous	Gerry Daughton	Dubois 44	1.128
HKG2199	Siren	Anthony Day	Sayer 13	1.187
M10	Skandia	Grant Wharington	Don Jones 98	1.601
HKG1998	Struan's Drumstick	David Cullen	DK46	1.208
IRC B
Sail No.	Boat Name	Skipper	Design	TCC
HKG1832	Dexter	Lowell Chang	X99	0.989
HKG1649	Fox in Soxs	Inge Strompf-Jebsen	X99	0.988
HKG1612	Gambit	Keith Mowser	Young 8.4	1.021
HKG7135	Getafix	Pierre Le Pape	X99	0.988
HKG2011	Kam Loong	Jack Mallee	First 40.7	1.063
HKG8235	Legende	Merlier Achille	J105	1.027
HKG1822	Rampage	Denis Ma	Tripp 40	1.087
HKG1942	Relax	Jason Fedder	X382	1.031
C543	Silenus	Nick Southward	Contessa 32	0.86
HKG1810	Struan	Gault Rice	Sigma 38	0.989
HKG2002	Tornado	Y.K. Szeto	Mumm 30	1.089
PREMIER CRUISING
Sail No.	Boat Name	Skipper	Design	TCC
IVB612	Hocux Pocux 2	Marcel Liedts	X612	1.247
CAY8888	Moonblue 2	Peter Churchouse	Warwick 64	1.256
HKG2018	Polar Star III	T.C. Leung	First 47.7	1.123
HKG1985	Shahtoosh	Peter Cremers	Warwick 55	1.168
HKPN
Sail No.	Boat Name	Skipper	Design	Event
HKG1850	Bewitched	Glenn Smith	Catalina 42	Regatta
HKG1135	G.A.	Arthur Ho	Dehler Optima	Regatta
HKG2008	O'Feeling	Allen Fan		Vietnam
HKG254	The Farr Side	John Berry	Farr 38	Regatta
HKG1691	Tipsy Free	Leon Chan	First 45.4	Vietnam
HKG11175	Quest	Patrick Slesinger	X362	Regatta
HKG1198	Windseeker	John Blay	S&S 36	CCRW
HKG649	Xanadu II	Ben Chong	Petersen 37	Regatta