Strong line-up

Lindsay Lyons previews the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's China Sea Race

On Thursday 13 April, for the first time, the China Sea Race will feature a spectacular start in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, with 27 boats expected on the start line in front of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club for the 1155hrs warning signal. The 565 nautical mile race will finish in Subic Bay, north west of Manila, with leading boats expected to finish in just over 48 hours.

With the late withdrawal of Sam Chan’s defending champion Ffree Fire, the IRC A Racing Division is up for grabs and the six remaining racers will all fancy their chances. Local skipper Frank Pong is hoping to carry off his first China Sea Race double of line honours and corrected time on his 75 footer, Jelik, but will be competing against almost-identical sister boat, Boracay, helmed by the UK’s Peter Morton.

Ten yachts will contest IRC Division B, which does not denote smaller boats, but reflects the lower handicap ratings of the entrants who are all Hong Kong based, except for the Philippines’ Martin Tanco on X452 Challenge and Shanghai’s Steve Manning on First 44.7, Walawala.

Australia’s Geoff Hill on Lyons 49 Strewth will be in good company in the IRC Premier Cruising Division with Hong Kong regulars Hocux Pocux 2, Shahtoosh and Moonblue 2 being joined by the new Dubois Global 80 Intrigue, from New Zealand.

In the HKPN division, along with three other yachts and two multihulls, Russian entry Carrera is expected to arrive in Hong Kong late tonight or tomorrow morning, having sailed from Vladivostok to take part in the race.

Entries:

IRC Racing Division A (Provisional)
Sail No	Boat Name	Owner / Skipper	Design	TCC	Event
HKG 2076	Boracay	Peter Morton	Bermudian Sloop	1.488	CSRS
HKG 1998	Drumstick	Robert Knight	DK46	1.205	CSRS
HKG 1894	Ffree Fire	Sam Chan / Russ Parker	ULDB Sled	1.345	CSR
HKG 1978	Jaywalker	Paul Bankowski	Ker 11.3	1.152	CSRS
HKG 600	Jelik	Frank Pong	Bermudian Sloop	1.475	CSRS
HKG 2166	Mandrake	Burns / Kinmonth	Farr-Mills 51	1.281	CSRS
HKG 2199	Siren	Ant Day / Richard Killip	Sayer 13	1.199	CSR
IRC Racing Division B (Provisional)
HKG 2023	Barnstormer	Simon Wood	First 40.7	1.083	CSR
HKG 2121	Blackjack	Glenn Smith	Grand Soleil 45	1.116	CSR
HKG 1092	Cave Canem	Simon Boyde	Beneteau First 42	1.01	CSR
HKG 10965	Challenge	Martin Tanco	X452	1.066	CSRS
HKG 2180	Imagine	Anthony Wilkinson	Beneteau Oceanis 523	1.105	CSR
HKG 2018	Polar Star III	T C Leung	First 47.7	1.112	CSR
HKG 11175	Quest	Patrick Slesinger	X362	0.995	CSRS
HKG 1380	Temujin	Peter Mok / Joseph Chan	Northshore 38	0.993	CSRS
HKG 1507	Walawala	Steve Manning	First 44.7	1.107	CSR
IRC Premier Cruising Division (Provisional)
HKG 1800	Dream	Mark Thornburrow	Taswell 49	1.048	CSR
IVB 612	Hocux Pocux 2	Marcel Liedts	X612	1.246	CSR
NZ 8818	Intrigue	Ian Nicholson / Gary Foster	Dubois Global 80	1.321	CSR
CAY 8888	Moonblue II	Peter Churchouse	Custom Design	1.254	CSR
HKG 1985	Shahtoosh	Peter Cremers	Warwick 55	1.169	CSR
AUS 6188	Strewth	Geoff Hill	Lyons 49	1.159	CSRS
HKPN Division
Sail No	Boat Name	Owner / Skipper	Design	HKPN	Event
2210	Carrera	Mikhailov Alexey	Farr 43	850	CSRS
-	Foreign Affaire	Charles Lam / Paul Bayfield	Jeanneau 47	960	CSR
HKG 2088	Soko	Richard Winter	Moody 46	910	CSR
HKG 1185	Tojai	Simon John Latham	Hallberg Rassy 39	968	CSR
Multihull Division (HKPN)
Sail No	Boat Name	Owner / Skipper	Design	HKPN	Event
HKG 212	Long Reef	Guy Badgery	Crowther 42	680	CSR