Good as it gets

A report from the Sinolink Mangrove West Hong Kong Shenzhen International Regatta

The second day of the Sinolink Mangrove West Hong Kong Shenzhen International Regatta 2005 was probably as good as it gets. Flat water, breeze, and hot sunshine made the day a great success - even if there were a few sun burnt faces and plenty of tired bodies to be seen back on the dock.

Daya Bay is a pretty place: one competitor mused: "If you blindfolded me and dropped me here, I'd probably think I was in the Bay of Islands. Except that the water is quite a lot warmer."

First race of the day was a windward/leeward course of two sausages, and the fleet went away on just two starts - IRC and HKPN.

In 12 knots of breeze from the east, the sailing conditions were second to none.

There were no surprises on the water - the thoroughbreds nipped smartly round the track in just about an hour, and the minnows took a little longer. Three of the HKPN division started rather prematurely with the IRC division - one came back, but the other two were scored OCS.

For the last race of the series RO Jimmy Farquhar signalled a scenic round-the-islands course of 24 nm, and the fleets started in a 15-17 knot easterly.

The course went out to sea from Daya Bay to a turning mark and then along the east side of Dalajia Island and so back to Longcheer. Beating out to sea on flat water was something akin to gin-and-tonic sailing, and the only glitch in the brochure was a strong set down the coast that gave some boats pause for thought at the turning mark.

Ffree Fire sailed a short course of approx 18 nm, and was later awarded redress due to confusion arising from a mark left over from the morning race.

The breeze had now dropped to no more than 7 knots for most of the fleet, and while the leaders were away and gone, the remainder ran slowly north west under spinnaker, against the tide flowing out of the bay. It was very hot work for the spinnaker trimmers, and the final shy reach to the finish line put some very welcome breeze across the deck.

Results Race 2

IRC A
1 Rampage
2 Mandrake
3 Jaywalker

IRC B
1 Ling Yuan
2 Taxi
3 Boss Hoggg

HKPN 1
1 San Li Xing
2 Lover
3 Taurus

HKPN 2
1 Fei Fei
2 Iron Rock
3 Harmony

Results Race 3

IRC A
1 Mandrake
2 Jelik
3 Ffree Fire

IRC B
1 Gambit
2 Ling Yuan
3 Taxi

HKPN 1
1 San Li Xing
2 Groovy
3 Lover

HKPN 2
1 Fei Fei
2 Harmony
3 Expedition

Series Results
IRCA
1 Mandrake
2 Rampage
3 Jelik

IRC B
1 Ling Yuan
2 Taxi
3 Gambit

HKPN 1
1 San Li Xing
2 Tara
3 Lover

HKPN 2
1 Fei Fei
2 Harmony
3 Expedition