Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club : The Lipton Trophy presented by INFINITI
Saturday, 10 November 2012
The first Pursuit Race of the 2012-2013 season took place in Victoria Harbour today in an average 8 to 10kts of easterly breeze. Race Officer Gareth Williams had been unimpressed with conditions when he went out to check the harbour at noon, but for once, the wind gods were smiling, and the 58 entrants enjoyed a consistent breeze on a beautiful afternoon for Hong Kong sailing.
Course six was selected, leading competitors to Tai Koo Shing twice, before entering two small triangles and a repeating Dock Buoy/ Gate Buoy loop designed to engineer a finish as close to the 1630hrs target time as possible.
The idea of the pursuit race is simple. Slow boats start first, and there are then staggered starts for all the other boats through to the fastest rated boat. In theory, at 1630hrs, if all boats were equally well (or otherwise) sailed, they should have all finished together. Fortunately for Williams and his team, the variety of sailing at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is a little broader and from 16:28:30hrs when the Isler/ Taylor owned Ambush took the gun, a steady procession of boats from all the classes crossed the line, culminating in Impala Shikari around 45 minutes later.
Provisional results have Ambush lifting the Lipton Trophy, ahead of Peninsula Signal 8, helmed by Jamie McWilliam and 3 x 11, the popular Etchells helmed by Jimmy Farquhar.
Fingers are crossed that the 235+ boats entered into tomorrow’s Tommy Bahama Around The Island Race enjoy similar conditions!
Provisional Results (Top 10)
| Name of Boat | Class | Skipper |
| Ambush | Big Boats | Isler / Taylor |
| Peninsula Signal 8 | Big Boats | Jamie McWilliam |
| 3 x 11 | Etchells | Jimmy Farquhar |
| Easy Tiger | Etchells | Marty Kaye |
| Red Kite II | Big Boats | Anthony Root |
| Noisy Forefather | Flying 15 | Mead / Atkinson |
| Gunga Din | Etchells | Nick Burns |
| Mind The Bumps | Etchells | Mark Whitehead |
| Tchaikoffsky | Flying 15 | Howard / Sheridan |
| Sell Side Dream | Big Boats | Simon Powell |
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC) is one of the oldest sports clubs in Hong Kong and is proud of its rich, colourful history, which stretches back over 160 years of social and competitive sailing and rowing. RHKYC organises a full calendar of local and international racing for both keel boats and dinghies, ranging from round-the-cans to Category 1 offshore races. The Club also provides sailing courses for members and non-members at various levels to nurture the development of sailing.
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club media
Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 November 2012 )
