SLAM SAILING CENTRE
SLAM SAILING CENTRE
HKSF Festival Of Sport: 13 & 14 June
Words Richard Knight (HKSF) and Grégoire Bourrut Lacouture
Organised by the Hong Kong Sailing Federation, this annual regatta attracted almost 120 entries in five divisions and classes.
Racing took place on the 13-14 June in Port Shelter with the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Shelter Cove facility providing the
regatta headquarters.
overpass her. The rest of the Dragons did also well with Arthur
who reached the 10th position in the second race followed by
Jasmine (11) and Pei in 13th.
Racing on Day Two was set up closer to the NE of Shelter Island to
take advantage of the south-easternly wind. Racing was underway
on time with the Optimists starting first as they had one extra race
to complete. It started badly for Gabriella, who broke her mast in
the middle of the third race and Sean who decided to take shelter
on Alfred’s boat in the fourth race. There was also a protest on
Nicolle in the same race which resulted in disqualification after her
hearing on shore. Fortunately with her other results, she managed to
maintain in the top 10 and ended 7th overall.
The Optimist fleet was 66 boats strong with sailors also visiting
from China. This was the third regatta in the selection process
for the IODA Asian Optimist Championships where 10 Hong
Kong sailors are expected to compete in late October.
Race Officer Sofia Mascia was supported by a team of
volunteers including participants of the HKSF’s first Level 1 Mark
Layer course who were getting their practical experience after a
day of training earlier in the year.
The forecast was similar for both days, with a southerly wind of 8
to 14kts. That prediction came true with blue skies and scattered
clouds providing close to ideal conditions all weekend.
Racing on Day One took place north of Shelter Island. With six
separate starts, including a few general recalls, it was just as
well a completely separate finish line was being used for the first
time, as this meant there could be no unnecessary interruptions
to the sequence. The highlight of one of the races came from
Nicolle who was leading the second race almost up to the end
with a constant fight between Duncan and Thorwen. Eventually,
few meters away from the finishing line, both sailors managed to
The regatta was a ranking event for the Optimist fleet as part
of the Hong Kong Optimist Dinghy Association’s selections
for the team to represent Hong Kong at the Asian Optimist
Championships in October.
16 HEBE JEBES • SEP/OCT 2015
It was also a very good race for our light bodied sailors, Nathan
who had his best result so far ended the race 22nd with even an
11th position in the third race. Same for Bincker who finished
33rd and in the top 20 in the third race.
The rest of the fleet saw of mix results with some top 15s
for Emily, Pasu and Pei but did not managed to secure it
overall and ended overall in the top 30 with the exception of
Jasmine and Arthur.
Back on shore, the highlight of the week end was the sleepover
organised by Alfred at the HK Sea Scouts next door to HHYC.
See Sean’s report about this memorable night...
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