HKISC Day 2 - Backe bites back

The Hong Kong Invitational Sportsboats championships ended today with a clear winner in the mixed SBR fleet. Peter Backe on Black Magic answered his critics with a superb display of downwind speed, picking up three consecutive bullets to push the overnight leader Frank van Kempen (Fly by Wire) into second place. 

(c) Cynthia Law/HKSA

 While the wind didn't quite reach the survival conditions of Saturday, a steady 18 knots meant that huge gains were available to those willing to live on the edge downwind, and some spectacular broaches were seen at both ends of the fleet. Brace Brace Brace, sailed by Paul Murphy, was seen after some gybes with crew sitting on the keel – if it was a dinghy, it might be called “capsized”! 

(c) Cynthia Law/HKSBA

With two days of strong winds it was clear which boats had been well maintained, as gear failure started to take its toll. A broken lower shroud ended Jens-Erik Olsen's (Red Herring) quest for a top three position, and a few broken mast tracks and lifting chainplates caused varying degrees of concern. Big gains on the second day were made by Northern Light (David Knight) and Catch 22 (Mark Bennett) by managing to sail all the races. The black Longtze of Gaetan Verhegge (Exocet) continued its storming pace by beating many of the Magic 25s on elapsed as well as corrected time.

The J80 fleet continued to be close, with a single point separating the top two boats. John Hodgson (J Chi) celebrated a hard earned victory with another bottle of Grey Goose Vodka for first place, with Steve Trebitsch on Jazz not quite doing enough to sneak past him. 

Peter Backe thanked the RHKYC for organising a fantastic regatta, and proposed that the event become an annual fixture for Asian sportsboats. With fabulous windy sailing conditions (and an improved economic climate!), it is hoped that next year will see a return of the foreign contingent and the same high quality competition that this year has enjoyed.

(c) Cynthia Law/HKSBA

Overall Results:

Sportsboats

1, Black Magic, Peter Backe, 7pts
2, Fly By Wire, Frank van Kempen, 10pts
3, Exocet, Gaetan Verhegge, 22pts

J80

1, J Chi, Jonathan Hodgson
2, Jazz, Simon Blore
3, Hakwati, Dan Tulberg

HKISC Day 1

The Hong Kong Invitational Sportsboats Championships started with a bang with strong winds, multiple breakages, and lots of very fast downwind legs. Race Officer Russ Parker set a mixture of windward/leeward and geometric courses off the coast of Lamma Island testing the reaching (and broach recovery) skills of the fleet.

(c) Joyce Ravara/HKSBA

Peter Backe and Frank van Kempen lived up to their pre-event billing by battling for the lead in the sportsboats fleet, each winning two races and setting up a match race for the overall victory tomorrow. The J80 fleet looks like a competition between the North Sails Hong Kong loft, with John Hodgson (crewed by Tim Somerville) just edging out Steve Trebitsch and Simon Blore on Jazz.

Most of the sportsboat fleet trialled new kites provided by Zoke and with winds topping at 25 knots they were all grateful for the crispy sailcloth. 

A total of 24 boats took part in the first four races of the championships, with three more to come. The Sportsboat Association is very grateful for the organisation of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and the sponsorship of Grey Goose Vodka, who provided day prizes to the top competitors.

Results after Day 1:
Sportsboats
1. Fly by Wire, Frank Van Kempen 6pts
2. Black Magic, Peter Backe 7pts
3. Exocet, Gaetan Verhaegge 19pts

J80
1. J Chi, John Hodgson 5pts
2. Jazz, Simon Blore 8pts
3. Hakwakti, Dan Tulborg 12pts

HKISC - Northern Light preparation...

Right, off to prep my boat by putting the stickers on - it's all about the photos. I promised ages ago to put up the new boat graphics, but things have beeen a little downgraded since then - anyway, here they are:

This is on the back of the t-shirts, but boat graphics are purely red tape! 

Team this weekend should be pretty fast, but we're rather hoping for 8-10knts as we're 70kg under weight. Given the forecast for 18-20knts, we may be a little slow upwind! The problem with the Lamma racetrack is that is purely a boatspeed venue with very constant wind direction and pressure, so no chance to shift hop as we normally do in Port Shelter! Still, I can't wait: 18knts downwind in a swell will be awesome, however light the crew, and we've got about 15 downwind legs to do. With a brand new kite.

HKISC - the excitement mounts

So while it's not quite what was planned (no shipping deal so few (no?) overseas entrants) we're still looking forward to a awesome weekend (13th/14th) of sportsboats racing. With the promise of sponsored kites for the mixed SBR fleet we've got 13 Magics racing, 2 Longtzes, an FT10 as well as the Hugh Welbourn/DSS "Brace Brace Brace".

Possibly the best Magic fleet turnout worldwide since the heyday of the HK fleet in terms of numbers, there is also some talent at the top end of the fleet. The favourite has to be reigning HK Magic Champion Frank van Kempen on "Fly by Wire", but he can expect to be pushed very hard by Peter Backe ("Black Magic") who has been pushing the envelope of sail development and Steve Bourne ("Merlin") who has finally quit complaining about the holes in his sails and brought a new set. Dark horses (literally - who would order an entirely black machine and then sail it in the HK summer sun?!) are the guys on "Bracex3", who have finally started showing some serious pace in strong breeze. Helmed (I think) by HK 470 Olympic contender Sam Sakai, the innovative horizontal lifting foil might prove to be the weapon it was promised to be. Or will it be difficult to handle in the expected 1m swell and fail to correct out the 5mins it gives to most of the rest of the fleet?

Reduced to a weekend event, with 7 races in forecast 17-20knt winds on the "world's" race  course off Lamma in the South China Sea, there should still be plenty of excitement. Oh yes, there are also some J80s racing in a one design fleet as well - almost forgot...

Results online here:
http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/article.aspx?c=2&a=1577
and tracks will be published here asap:
http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/article.aspx?c=2&a=1522

RN7: How to ignore your own advice

The sailing season has finally started, and with a bang! Autumn Regatta this weekend, and after being depressed for most of the week about the forcast 0 to 2 knot westerly, I was pleasantly surprised by a variable 0 to 8 knot breeze on Saturday, which increased to around 10-15knots for a two race blast on Sunday.

Westerly winds are pretty rare in the harbour, and most of the accepted ideas about what to do go out of the window. Coupled with this, we were racing on the plateau of an odd diurnal tide pattern that meant the tide was fairly slack for most of the day - so it often became about finding a band of pressure and staying in it.

TIde Patterns, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Harbour - www.hko.gov.hk

We didn't have a spectacular event, but there were a few moments of note. Firstly, most of the mark roundings were to starboard, meaning that you could barrel in shouting for your rights, but it was more often an exercise in risk management. Especially in the light winds of Saturday, starboard didn't mean much if the guys on port couldn't get out of the way! I had to make this call at one point - starboard to four Etchells who had just rounded and were going nowhere, or carry on? I carried on and had to turn back downind to the upwind mark - I should have seen the problem earlier and not put myself in that position.

Sunday's heavier winds were fantastic fun. Especially the second race, where we were planing consistently downwind - a fairly unusual occurance in Hong Kong, and something I haven't had a great deal of experience with. Fleet management was much more an issue when planing, as you had to think much further ahead than usual and at greater speeds to prevent yourself being stuffed to windward and broaching and/or forced to leeward and falling off the plane by the boats in front. Both were slow!

Annika looking casual downwind. I'm at the back, screaming. (c) Guy Nowell/RHKYC

Still, we had excellent speed downwind, but there is still work to be done upwind. We weren't helped by being at least 80kg underweight, but I was the main culprit - completely ignoring what I wrote about last week (RN6) and also experienced at the similarly heavy wind 2010 Spring Regatta. Also known as - take the inside of the bend! I went right up the beat and forgot about the wind bend you get around North Point. As I was constantly being lifted, it felt great, but everbody inside me sailed a much shorter course and disappeared. All our downwind theatrics were a little wasted...

A great weekend though, and a couple of good photos, including a brief appearance on the front page of the SCMP. Yes, that's my mast on the extreme left.

Front page of the SCMP 20th September 2010.

Tack Tracker link is here - we're the one without a name (pink I think). Not all the Sportsboats fleet seem to have handed in their tracker.

Results (don't look...)

RN4: Mark rounding photos

Thanks to the awesome photography of Joyce Ravara (Chaos Photos - some great shots! Apologies for borrowing this sequence...) here is the leeward mark rounding from last weekend!

Behind Merlin (we have the blue kite)

Coming into the leward mark rounding, and going wide - only just got mark room on Barnstormer outside us.

Rounding inside

Ahead!

And this is what I meant about bigger boats - that's me in the middle, with an 79ft yacht on my lee bow.

All photos (c) Chaos Photos

RN4: Line Honours in a class of two

I was a little shocked this weekend at the drop in fleet numbers - is it something to do with people leaving Hong Kong for August? Cowes Week? The forecast light wind? Whatever it was, we went from a fleet of eight Magics to a fleet of two.

However, it was still a fantastic couple of races. We (I) decided to go out early to check out where the wind was, and ended up about 30 mins early for the start... I'll factor that in next time. Promise. We determined that there were major wind variations as you moved north of Port Shelter Island, and decided that going right would pay.

Wind and marks in Port Shelter before the start of the first race

The race committee put the windward in underneath the island, but we stuck with our original plan and got a boat end start (at the second attempt!). Tacked off to starboard along with only three other boats and gained a lot on the first two thirds of the beat. However, with the mark so sheltered, the top third was very difficult and we ended up completely out of phase with the shifts. Rounded behind Steve on Merlin by about a minute and the gap stayed for the rest of the race.

Second race - similar strategy, much better start (first rank, and held until there was clear air to tack off), and just in front of Merlin at the top mark.The run was close, with Merlin just to leeward and able to get inside at the first leeward mark. We let him in, went wide, and were able to do a great gybe/drop and nip in inside them coming out of the rounding. From there it was as if we were match racing - covering tacks, and not letting him get away! We were helped by Frank (another Magic sailor, but driving a big boat) being happy to let us play silly buggers and keep out of our way...


After a momentary panic as we got a wrap on our final gybe to the line, we crossed for our first race win! It was a shame that only two were out, but I got plenty of chat from the race officer at the prize giving, as well as some shiny flags and a t-shirt. A good weekend's sailing!

"Do stop giggling like a school-girl"

Because I have a new boat, and therefore am physically required to sail it at every available moment, we took it out for another cruise on Saturday. With me this time were Greg and Kien, both of whom had had a bit of experience of sailing dinghies. However, this was a little step up in excitement...

Giggling like school-girls. (c) DFK

A nice force 3-4 and bright sushine meant there was some comical sunburn afterward.  Destination was again Pak Ah, for food and a swim. Swimming off the beach was like getting in a bath.

Note tongue out, concentrating on not spilling any beer.  (c) KH

One lesson we learnt was on the sensitivity of the keel to stall - I had to take two attempts at coming up to the dock at lunchtime. Given that it only has a chord length of about 8 inches, as soon as you stop the flow over the keel you start to go sideways. Running into wash at low speed (with only the jib up) was an admirable way to do this!  I managed it eventually.

I've still got a list of jobs to do on the boat, but it's gradually getting smaller. A few bits of line in key places, a self-return system for the pole, and (still!) an engine service. The major change will be the new name and new decals, which will be announced soon...

RN2: Shenanigans, or how not to cross the start line...

Saturday was the first race in the new boat, and it was a day of mixed results. There are lots of areas to improve on!

The two races were being run by Hebe Haven Yacht Club, as part of their regular club racing. The particular difficulty with this series is that all fleets start at the same time, which means anything from 25ft (i.e. us) to over fifty are looking for the same part of the start line. This wasn't my first experience of it, but it was my first attempt at a good start in such a fleet. Unfortunately, it defined the races for us.

The first race was a two lap windward/leward race. I started somewhere in the middle of the line, but was a little late pulling the trigger so was quickly buried by some bigger/faster boats, and struggling to get clear air. So we tacked off to the right hand side of the course.

























Saturday's tides and wind in Port Shelter. With apologies to GoogleMaps.

Unfortunately, this meant we were in tide for much longer than those that went hard left. They punched through the tide (and also got a little more pressure) so rounded a little way ahead of us. We were sixth out of eight, and it stayed like that!

Race two, and I had a spectacularly bad start. We decided that the only way to get to the favoured left hand side was to win the pin. I know, kind of arrogant for only my second start in a fleet of 40 yachts! There were two of us out there, both with the same idea. The other was the eventual winner (Black Magic) so at least it was the right place! I was a little early for the start, luffed a little, slowed too much, and was suddenly below the layline. Right - time for a quick tack. Tack - oh bugger, now I'm on port with three forty foot yachts bearing down on me. I tack back, failing to complete in time and hence fouling Avantgarde. Then I ran into the pin.

Time to disentangle myself from the anchor chain and do some turns! We managed to gain one place in the race, but ended with a seventh.

However, far from being a total tale of woe, there were lots of good points. One was my crew - it was pretty top notch, with Ollie, an ex- 18ft skiff sailor, being the new addition. Secondly, downwind speed was good, and once we'd made the first mistake with the tide we were generally going in the right direction at the right times. It was a shame that once we realised that it became a procession - there was really only one way to go (upwind and down) and therefore very few passing lanes. The other great point was that there were 8 Magics sailing, with two to three regulars still on the dock. Hopefully that will continue next season.

Same again in two weeks time. I have a similar crew, so here's hoping that I discover some starting skill in the meantime!

New boat, new blog

So, I've finally started a blog. Who'd have thought? Not entirely sure what to write about (hence, of course, the title) but will probably chart progress on my new boat, and maybe a few bridge pictures and reviews. Mixing business with pleasure!

So, the new boat.

Photo credit: unknown, but via JP. Let me know if it's yours.

We (Elisa and I) have just bought Magic 25 hull number 62. Called Shenanagins (a very odd spelling, with an unknown vintage) she seems to have been sailed extremely well in Hong Kong for the last decade or so. Four Class Championship wins, Round the Island Record holder... This boat has a pedigree. Which was part of the appeal, as well as being well maintained and nicely set up. She doesn't seem to have been sailed for a while, so there are a few little niggles to work out before she is in racing trim.

We took her for a maiden sail on Saturday, just to try out the cruising sails and enjoy the perfect Hong Kong summer weather (southerly force 3-4, sunshine). Destination - Pak Ah for icecream and beer. Here is a photo of me looking pleased with myself.

Photo credit: Fran Knight

The next steps include refitting the pole, servicing the engine, and getting her certificated. And then (hopefully!) we'll take her out for a first race. We have someway to go before we can hope to match her previous results!