SLAM SAILING CENTRE
SLAM SAILING CENTRE
2015 HKODA National & Open Championship
HHYC win Sailor of the Regatta, HK Youngest Sailor & 4th Place overall
Words Grégoire Bourrut Lacouture and Arni Highfield
This annual event is the highlight of the year for all
Hong Kong Optimist sailors. All the Hong Kong
clubs gather to compete along with overseas
sailors in a series of races. This year, the event was
held at the Hong Kong Sea School in Stanley from
1 – 4 October.
Day two saw stronger winds, up to 10 knots, but these were
inconsistent, often dying away mid-race. Despite this, the Race
Committee managed to get four races in, despite a 90-degree
windshift at lunchtime necessitating a course change. Again,
the same four sailors were fighting neck and neck. Dylan
pipped Duncan to first place in the open category by winning all
his day two races, whereas Duncan could only win three, with
a 6th place in his last race. This left the two of them on equal
points after discards, but Dylan was the open champion on
countback. Duncan won the National Championship, following
three years when his older brother Callum had been champion.
Thorwen managed to just beat Faolan to third place after
having a better second day. It is a great shame that the storm
prevented these sailors racing each other in the same fleet.
This year the event was hit by Typhoon Mujigae—
whose gale-force winds in Hong Kong forced the
cancellation of the last two days.
The event was hosted jointly by the HKODA and
the HK Sea School, and was held near the latter's
premises in Tai Tam Bay. Despite the loss of two
days of racing, the event was a huge step forward
for the class. It was the first time four days had
been set aside for the event, necessitated by
its increased popularity. 91 Optimists took part,
and in addition to a larger-than-normal local fleet,
sailors f