Typhoon
Maysak meant we couldn't go to San Fernando, so the Sailing Office sent us on an Category 1 offshore course of about 360 miles, around virtual marks to the south of Hong Kong (at left), which the club called "Not the San Fernando Race".
A predominantly light winds race, Force 1-4, with occasional 6, which I characterised as "a mix of frustrating and exhilarating". To which someone said "that's pretty much the description of any offshore race", to which I say "True 'dat".
We had a couple of times where boat speed was 0.0 knots.
But we also had a great first night under A2 spinnaker with winds up to 25 knots, boat doing 12-13 knots (top score was AK with a burst of 13.7 knots), and a nice morning reach, winds 15-18 knots and steady boat speed over 10 knots.
We won our IRC Premier Cruising division, and came 4th overall. Great
crew work and camaraderie. No major damage, save a blown A1 kite on the last afternoon, quickly retrieved.
Some photos, with various thanks to Angel, TC, Jonno, Ken and Guy (Club Facebook photos
here):
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| Pontoon, RHKYC, 1 April. TC, Mark, Jonno, AK, Ken, Forse, Dan, Noel, Kiwi |
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| Pre start: watch that sheet! Kiwi, Forse, Noel, TC, Jonno, Ken, Dan, Mark, AK |
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| Light winds past Waglan Island. And Jonno's cool shades... |
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| More light winds driftin'... Noel, Kiwi, AK, TC, Shifty, Ken |
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| Kiwi and AK on helm, light winds racing.... |
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| Kiwi on the job |
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| Noel and TC check the AIS as Kiwi trims: plenty of shipping on the course... |
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| TC, Mark, Dan (aka "Shifty") |
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| The two old buggers: Ken and Forse |
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| Arriving back in the Emerald city of Hong Kong, evening, 3 April |
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| Canapes on the boat, 3 April, RHKYC pontoon |
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| Dan, Ken, TC, Forse, Jonno, Mark, AK, Kiwi |
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Prize giving, RHKYC 4 April. Pixie, Forse, TC, Kiwi, Dan, Ken, Mark.
(photo-bombed by the man in blue...) |
[PS: some folks were asking about the name "Xena"; where did it come from.
Here's a post on that]
