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12th
China Cup International Regatta
AY
Race Report 1
2018/19
AY Grand
Prix
Event |
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Vanhang
Longcheer wins slow race from Hong Kong
By CCIR Media - Sailing Intelligence
Thursday 8th November 2018, Shenzhen, China: Former winner Vanhang
Longcheer has become the early leader of the ultra-competitive Beneteau
40.7 fleet after winning the New Sports Passage Race on the opening day
of the China Cup International Regatta in Shenzhen. Last year Joseph Dennis
O’Keeffe’s Australian/Chinese crew struggled to find the best
breeze on the 30-mile race out of Hong Kong waters to Daya Bay in southern
China. They could only manage sixth in 2017. However this year Vanhang
Longcheer were consistently fast on the predominantly long port reach
across to Daya Bay, and their opening victory stands them in good stead
for winning back the title which so narrowly eluded them 12 months ago.
When
the 8-knot breeze dropped to almost nothing before the finish, the 24-boat
Beneteau fleet was reshuffled as some of the frontrunners sailed into
a wind hole while their rivals breezed on past. O’Keefe’s
eagle-eyed team avoided the worst of the wind to record an important victory,
ahead of second-placed PerDormire Team and Cheung Kong Sailing Club. The
defending champion, Yiihua Pocket Emirates Team New Zealand finished today
in fifth place, giving the Kiwis a bit of work to do over the coming days.
However, for the first time in the 12-year history of the China Cup, there’s
an extra day of inshore competition, with four days of short-course racing
to be played out on Daya Bay. That will make it harder for Vanhang Longcheer
to defend their early lead.
Elsewhere
on today’s race course, Frank Pong’s 75-footer Jelik took
up her customary position at the front of the fleet, earning line honours
ahead of the massed fleet, which numbered 91 boats in all. Standard Insurance
Centennial Sailing Team, perennial winners in IRC A, were again winners
on corrected time, as was the Soto40 Seamo Racing in IRCA2. Among Seamo’s
crew is first-time competitor in the China Cup, Jonas Warrer, who won
Olympic gold in the 49er skiff for Denmark 10 years in Qingdao, the sailing
venue for Beijing 2008. This week Warrer is back in Chinese waters, calling
tactics on board Seamo Racing.
The
international fleet is peppered with top-notch talent, particularly in
the Beneteau 40.7s which year after year attracts sailors from around
the world to charter one of these evenly matched 40-footers. Canadian
skipper Mike Evans is back for his fifth successive China Cup. “Where
else can you get this depth of competition? Last year I thought they’d
raised the bar as high as it would go, but looking at the fleet now, it
looks like it’s been raised again.” His bowman, Dylan Scott,
said: “I’m here to enjoy my sailing and build my skills. It’s
a great regatta to do, and the warm weather makes a nice change from the
snow back home.”
The
China Cup has earned a reputation for being a ‘sail hard, party
hard’ kind of regatta; it’s not just the hot competition but
also the lavish evening parties that keeps sailors coming back year after
year. Sleep can wait until the end of the regatta on 12 November. Thursday
evening’s party was the Opening Ceremony at the Marriott Hotel,
a perfect opportunity to make new friends and share war stories from a
challenging first day at the China Cup. Friday brings the start of inshore
competition, and the start of some of the other class competition, including
the Bavaria 37 and ASAF Keel Boat fleets.
News
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