Geoff Hill's Strewth (Photo by Daniel Forster)
The Rolex China Sea Race fleet has been making the most of a strong northeast breeze, force 6-7 (21-30 kts), ticking off the miles as they make their way toward the Philippine coast. At 5:00 pm local time, Strewth (AUS) was 70 nautical miles due west of Santiago Island, making 11+ knots on a southeastly heading, with 135nm to the finish. Both Hi Fi (HKG) and Evolution Racing (AUS) have been leading Strewth; however, neither boat has been tracking. Based on an earlier estimated position, Hi Fi is expected to finish around midnight tonight.
Local weather conditions are the tricky bit for navigators and tacticians; once the boats approach the coast, the southeasterly sea breeze dominates. But where that transition zone is and how long the breeze sustains into the evening, is the big question. Many a boat has come storming down the race track, only to sail into a hole and sit while another boat finds a lane with breeze to get past them.
Ray Robert’s on Evolution Racing is a frequent competitor at the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race on his Cookson 50, of the same name. And while he is a successful competitor on the Asian Yachting Grand Prix Circuit as well, this Rolex China Sea Race is only the second for Roberts, who previously sailed with Frank Pong on his Jelik.
Greg Kearns Avant Garde (Photo by Daniel Forster)
Prior to the race, Roberts said, “This boat is now one year, and I’m just starting to get it up to its’ potential. We had a first at the Singapore Straights and at Royal Langkawi (International Regatta), so those last two races got the boat up to speed, so I’m hoping to continue that process. But this one will be a little more tricky because of the wind and tidal influence. The breeze will be quite hard to read; for those who are a little bit aggressive and read the wind right, they’ll come out in front.”
When asked about Evolution’s competitors, Roberts said, “Hi Fi, Strewth, and the local boys on Mandrake- a lot of experience on that boat, a lot of talent. And then of course, if the breeze shuts down, it could become a 40-footer race. The Achambaults (Avant Garde, Red Kite II), the Mills 41 (Ambush). Bit of a roll of the dice when you get weather conditions like this.
“When I say ‘roll of the dice’ that’s only part of the element, you’ve got to sail well, you’ve got to make the calls on the weather, and get them right. There’s a luck element there, you have to look at all of the factors and if you get it right, you come out looking good.”
As of the 8:00 am position reports, the leader in IRC Racing A on corrected time, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s Ffreefire 70 was leading EFG Mandrake (HKG). In IRC Racing B, Ernesto Echauz’ Subic Centennial (PHI) was leading Ambush (HKG); IRC Racing C saw Simon Powell’s Sell Side Dream (HKG) ahead.
In IRC Premier Cruising, it was Jon Wardill’s Australian Maid (AUS) leading his division. This is the fourth Rolex China Sea Race for Wardill, who before the start said about this year’s race, “I’m looking forward to it. It suits my boat. It’s a very old, wooden boat and we’re still competitive. Long-distance passage racing is where she traditionally does her best. Hopefully we’ll get enough wind to get us down there.”
Wardill, along with some of his crew, hail from Darwin, Australia, and he has two Dutchman onboard as well. Wardill said, “We’re a very experienced crew, so we should do pretty well. We usually do the King’s Cup, and every second year we come up and do the China Sea Race, the Commodore’s Cup, and after that we’ll go to Thailand. It’s a pretty big programme and it’s a long way. I keep the boat up in Asia rather than in Darwin these days…it’s a long way to come.”
In IRC Cruising, it was CP Wong’s Tipsy Frenz (HKG), ahead in his division. Wong, who’s competed in the race 11 times, sails with an all-Chinese crew, most of whom are doctors. They’ve had a syndicate for over 20 years, campaigning several “Tipsy’s”.
Pole Star and SkyWave have joined forces to provide a web-based tracking facility for the event. Shore-based fans can follow the racing online at www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinasearace/tracking.htm
This year is the 25th edition of the Rolex China Sea Race, which was first run in 1962, and has been held every two years since then. The 565 nautical mile race runs from the start in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong to Subic Bay, Philippines. In 1972, it was officially recognised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and is now run under their prescriptions. The race has continued to attract increased interest and serves to draw the international yachting fraternity to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
Moonblue 2 and Australian Maid (Photo by Daniel Forster)
Extreme 40 Sailing In Hong Kong (Photo by Marco Hong/OC Events )
As the inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia gets off to a successful start in Hong Kong (20-24 November), OC Events, organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series, take a look back at the highlights of the 2009 iShares Cup, revealing the key statistics from the series third season, and preview the 2010 European Extreme Sailing Series.
For the planned six events in 2010, four countries are already confirmed, with events taking place in the UK, Germany, France and Spain. Venue announcements will be made over the coming months, but it can be confirmed today that the final round of the Extreme Sailing Series 2010 will take place in the region of Andalucia, Spain, at the port of Almeria over the national holiday weekend in mid-October.
Almeria hosted the 2009 finalé and recently published the results of an Economic Impact Report produced by the Council of Tourism, Commerce and Sport for Andalucia confirming that the event had generated 2.7m Euros of return on their investment. Over 75,000 spectators attended the Spanish event in October this year. A total of 15,000 tourists visited the city, 92% visiting because of the event and 80% of visitors expressed their intention to return. Hotel occupancy was up by 19.2 per cent compared to the same time in 2008, with more than 606,000 overnight stays. The visitors scored the event 8.1 points out of 10, considering the event to be ‘well organised’.
Seven teams who competed in the 2009 European series have already expressed their commitment to return in 2010 ahead of the publication of the official Notice of Race.
Extreme Sailing Series Racing In Hong Kong (Photo by Guy Nowell/OC Events)
The full media evaluation report of the 2009 iShares Cup will be published shortly by independent agency Havas Insight. In the meantime, enjoy some of the key statistics from the highly successful 2009 circuit that saw 48 of the world’s best sailors compete in 108 races across six European venues with only two capsizes, compared to five in 2008, but six collisions…!
To find out more about the current Extreme Sailing Series Asia, CLICK HERE…
2009 FACTS AND FIGURES:
Entries:
BT (EUR) – Nick Moloney (AUS)
Ecover (EUR) – Mike Golding (GBR)
Holmatro (NED) – Carolijn Brouwer (BEL)
iShares (EUR) – Shirley Robertson (GBR)
Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild (FRA) – Yann Guichard (FRA)
Groupama 40 (FRA) – Franck Cammas (FRA)
LUNA (FRA) – Erik Maris (FRA)
Oman Sail Masirah (OMA) – Pete Cumming (GBR)
Oman Sail Renaissance (OMA) – Loïck Peyron (FRA)
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) – James Spithill (AUS) (Venice/Hyères only)
WIRSOL Team Germany Kiel Sailing City – Roland Gabler (GER) (Kiel only)
Rumbo Almeria – Fernando Echavarri (ESP) (Almeria only)
Sailors:
48 sailors across 12 teams
52 World Championships
17 Olympians
7 Olympic medalists (4 Gold)
27 America’s Cup participations
17 Round the World navigations
11 different nationalities
Racing:
108 races: Venice 17; Hyéres 19; Cowes 20; Kiel 19; Amsterdam 17: Almeria 16
Regatta wins: Oman Sail Masirah 4 (Hyéres, Cowes, Kiel, Almeria); Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 2 (Venice, Amsterdam)
Number of 1st places: Oman Sail Masirah 36; Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 19; Oman Sail Renaissance 16 (9 out of the 12 teams, all scored 1 or more race wins during the season)
Best number of race wins per venue: Oman Sail Masirah 11 (Cowes); Oman Sail Renaissance 5 (Kiel, Amsterdam); Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 5 (Almeria)
2 capsizes: Holmatro at Cowes (practice day); Ecover at Kiel, day 1 (5 capsizes in 2008)
6 collisions: Oman Sail Renaissance hit Ecover (Hyéres); Team iShares hit spectator boat (Cowes); Oman Sail Renaissance hit WIRSOL Team Germany (Kiel) and Gitana Extreme hit WIRSOL Team Germany (Kiel); Oman Sail Renaissance hit Ecover (Amsterdam, practice day); BT hit Oman Sail Masirah (Amsterdam)
7 disqualifications: Groupama 40 (Venice); Oman Sail Renaissance (Kiel); Holmatro, Team iShares and BT (Amsterdam); LUNA and Team iShares (Almeria)
Venues:
Venice, Italy
Hyeres-TPM, France
Cowes, England
Kiel, Germany
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Almeria, Spain
(2007 x 4 rounds / 2008 x 5 rounds)
Spectators (estimated):
2009 200,000
(2007 57,000 / 2008 150,000)
VIP entertainment:
2,124 VIP guests were entertained in the VIP facilities at the six events in 2009
93% of VIP guests agreed that the iShares Cup fell within the top three events they had ever attended.
Extreme 40 (Photo by Th.Martinez/Sea&Co/OCEvents)
OC Events, organisers of the award winning iShares Cup, the European Extreme 40 Sailing Series, has announced today the creation of the inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia to be staged between November 2009 and March 2010. The first year of the Asian series will include events in Hong Kong, Singapore and Oman with the possibility of a fourth venue to be confirmed, and with a plan to grow this to a six-event series by 2011/12. Bids have already been received for the future series from a number of other venues across Asia.
After the spectacular finale of the six-stage European iShares Cup circuit last weekend in Almería (Spain), five of the boats were packed up to be shipped directly to Hong Kong. Mark Turner, CEO of OC Group, which includes the Series’ organisers OC Events, declared: “The iShares Cup has been running very successfully for three years now in Europe and the Extreme Sailing Series Asia is the next step in the evolution of this exciting sailing format – a format which has become a benchmark in terms of changing the way sailing is seen. Our aim is to build this series each year on the same foundations on which the European iShares Cup has been built – a comprehensive sailing entertainment event that packages the sport to appeal to the public, media and provide experiential VIP client hospitality. For this inaugural series in Asia we won’t be focused on the public side directly, instead we will work hard on the VIP and media aspects, as we did in the early iShares Cup years. But, of course, our aspiration is to build this circuit up over the coming years to match the award-winning iShares Cup format including a strong public element.”
Each event will consist of five days of racing, combining the established format of short, easy to understand races, a media day, VIP sailing days and special events. The Extreme Sailing Series Asia Notice of Race has been issued today and the announcement of the first of the competing teams will follow imminently. Five boats have already committed to the Asian circuit, as in the first year of the iShares Cup series in Europe.
The first event in the Extreme Sailing Series Asia will take place over the 20th-24th November in Hong Kong, supported by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, to coincide with their annual ‘Around the Island Race’ on the 22nd November. With over 200 entries the Around the Island Race is Hong Kong’s largest and most inclusive sailing event. The RHKYC is well equipped to support the series given its long time presence in Hong Kong waters as the premier sailing club.
The circuit will then move on to Singapore from 11th-15th December where sailing has become synonymous with sporting excellence in the region, after multiple medal success at the Asian Games and the ISAF Youth World Championships. One of the country’s key objectives is to make Singapore a key hub for sailing competitions.
Muscat, Oman will host the third event over the 1st to 5th February just before the America’s Cup in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, subject to the current legal dispute. The Sultanate of Oman, home to the legend of Sindbad, is known throughout the Gulf for its spectacular beauty and hospitality. The two Oman Sail boats that finished in 1st and 3rd place in the European 2009 iShares Cup, will return to the Extreme Sailing Series Asia this time with two Omani recruits from the Oman Sail Academy on board as part of the crew.
The inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia will see the same high calibre of competitors currently competing in the European circuit with Olympians, World Champions and Record Holders battling it out for victory in this new territory.
