Day 1 of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s opening regatta was a fickle affair with the autumnal 8kt easterly recorded in the morning giving way to a summery southerly during the afternoon. 85 boats from 11 classes took to the water with the Impala class getting away cleanly before the breeze dropped and turned southerly, forcing Race Officer Sofia Mascia to raise the AP and reset the start line.
As the breeze in the east of Victoria Harbour was still a healthy 6 to 8kt easterly, Mascia elected to stick with the easterly course group she had originally planned to use, giving all classes a challenge halfway down their run as the prevailing wind switched through 180°. The courses were further complicated by an oversized exclusion zone, leading to several post-race protests being heard by the regatta’s two protest committees.
At around 1600hrs, the breeze started to die, and several classes faced the long painful process of trying to make the finish line before the 1730hrs cut-off. Etchells and Big Boat divisions 2 and 3 were shortened however several of the IRC entries were disappointed not to get a finish for the first race of the weekend.
Starting at 1055hrs, racing on Sunday 20 September features two races, back to back with Wind Guru predicting a light south easterly all day.
Image : RHKYC/ Guy Nowell
