There were beautiful blue skies for the start of Day 2 of Hong Kong Race Week but it was short lived however as the clouds started to roll in as the 248 competitors launched.
A building north-easterly breeze was felt across most of the race track with much stronger conditions and swell on the Lasers, 29ers and 420s course near Po Toi Islands. With an average of 16kts and gusts to 20kts+ there was some tight racing between the Laser Radials and the pack stuck together most of the way around the track.
The HIGHFIELD sisters’ sibling rivalry intensified today with Molly HIGHFIELD taking Nancy’s position and dropping to third after Chinese Taipei’s Ogawa CHIANG took two firsts in the final races of the day.
In the 420 fleet Hong Kong sailors Chun Ho HO and Ka Ho LEE had another cracking day with three firsts in four races today putting them five points ahead.
On the Optimist, RS Feva and 2.4mR track in Stanley Bay, the sailors had to contend with a 8 to 12kt oscillating breeze and moderate tide running across the course. The Fevas got a fourth race in and the Optimists and 2.4mRs were set for a fourth race as well, but after five and a half hours on the water already and as the breeze built there was a big shift to the east resulting in the need to decide to either re-set the course or send the sailors in: the latter being chosen.
On the windsurfer course in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong’s Lok YEUNG continued his lead with top three places and two bullets today putting him six points ahead of Italy’s Edoardo TANAS in 2nd position in the Techno 293 Class. In the RSX Youth Class Hong Kong’s Earl CHEUNG is in the lead however with one point separating him from Siu Wing HO there will be some tight racing going into the weekend.
The Optimist Green Fleet kicked off their racing today, the aim of the fleet is to help grow young sailors and get them familiarised with event and racing format. This year the entries have grown from mainly Hong Kong entrants to include international entries from Cambodia, China and Singapore. There is a big focus is to encourage the sailors to ask questions as well as giving them tips so that they will grow and soon be racing in the main fleet. The green fleet got two races in Repulse Bay before calling it for the day when the breeze built out of the comfort limit of some of the new sailors.
The final two days of racing will be held this weekend with the champions of Hong Kong Race Week 2018 being crowned after racing on Sunday.
Provisional results are online at http://www.hongkongraceweek.com/results
「2018香港帆船賽週」第二天賽事以藍天碧海作開始，但隨著248名選手出發，雲層亦逐漸增多。大部份賽道均受一股東北風影響，特別當雷射、29er 及 420型帆船駛經蒲台島時最為明顯。海面平均風力達每小時16節，陣風風速錄得約20節以上，使各雷射型帆船在大部份時間，均需與其他選手緊密地進行比賽。今天的賽果出現了一些兄弟姐妹間的競爭，自Molly HIGHFIELD在昨日佔據了姊姊Nancy的位置，今天她的排名回落至第三名，而中華台北選手Ogawa CHIANG在總結今天比賽後暫時排於第一位。在420型帆船分組方面，香港代表Chun Ho HO 和 Ka Ho LEE在今日四場賽事中，取得3場冠軍，穩袋5分。
樂天型帆船、RS Feva 和 2.4mR型帆船分組在赤柱進行比賽，各選手需面對只有8至12節的微風和潮汐的挑戰。Feva組別順利完成了四場預定比賽，而樂天型帆船及2.4mR型帆船在進行第四場比賽時，風向突然轉變，大會需重新設定賽道或把選手送回。當時，各參賽者已在海面上進行了5.5小時的比賽，所以他們一致選取後者決定。
風帆分組賽於淺水灣進行，香港代表Lok YEUNG在Techno 293型帆船分組中，繼續保持排名於三甲內，總結今天成績後以6分領先亞軍來自意大利的Edoardo TANAS。另外，香港代表Earl CHEUNG亦在RSX分組中以1分領先Siu WIng HO，預料本週未將會上演更多緊張激刺的賽事。
樂天型帆船綠色分隊在今天展開他們的比賽，此分組的比賽目的是為了讓更多年輕帆船手熟習比賽模式。本年度不但有更多本地的帆船手參加比賽，來自柬埔寨，中國和新加坡的選手亦有增長。另一比賽重點是鼓勵選手們提出問題，然後我地從旁給予解答，從而幫助他們成長，在比賽中學習。綠色分隊在淺水灣進行了兩場比賽。
最後兩日比賽將於本週末進行，「2018香港帆船賽週」冠軍得主亦會於本星期日誕生。