The 6th edition of Hong Kong Race Week came to a close today. Competing in the event were 245 sailors from 10 nations including China, Cambodia, India, Macau, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and first-time entries Guam, Myanmar, Norway and Sweden.
As predicted, there was a big breeze for the final day - at its peak, it averaged 20kts with gusts up to 35kts. With such a strong breeze it was decided to send the Green Fleet sailors out to watch the action from the comfort of spectator boats. Due to the stronger conditions the Optimist, RS Feva and 2.4mR race track was based in Repulse Bay, and the Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, 29er and 420 race track moved to Stanley Bay which is more sheltered.
Even with the move of race tracks to the more sheltered areas, there were quite a few capsizes and retirements recorded throughout the day. The 29er fleet only got one race in before gusts exceeded their class wind limit and they were sent back to base. Hong Kong’s Malo Kennish and Anatole Martin took the win with an impressive 11 bullets in 13 races.
In the 420 fleet Hong Kong’s Eloi Defline and Thibault Minne came out four points ahead of Hong Kong’s Duncan Gregor and Matthew Clark after a very close battle that took place over the course of the week, with either team taking the first or second position in every race.
Principal Race Officer Barry Truhol commented on racing on the performance track, “We always knew that today would be a challenge. Today was huge. The breeze on both courses was 18 to 20kts; the sailors had very challenging race conditions - they had short chop, deep chop and gusts up to 35kts. It was extremely challenging for them. There was a little bit of attrition, but they all came through and did a great job.”
In the Laser 4.7s, Hong Kong’s Patrick Ziteng Feng took the win followed by India’s Rammilan Yadav and Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Wu, the first female in the fleet was China’s Xinran Chen.
In the Laser Radial fleet, Chinese Taipei’s Hsiu Chu Daniel Huang came in first followed by Hong Kong’s Stan Picard and Hong Kong’s Stephanie Norton. Huang said, “It was tough sailing today but very exciting. I am very happy. The wind was very strong, and I was hiking hard. It was a good day; it's a great event.”
On the Repulse Bay race track the Optimists got their three races in and the 2.4mRs and Fevas each got in two. The conditions again were challenging. The wind was fixed but there were times when they were getting gusts of 28kts coming down the race track.
Taking the win in the biggest fleet of the regatta was Norway’s Optimist sailor Julia Jacobsen. Jacobsen said, “It's been really fun the past few days. When I accomplish something new, it’s fun. It's been exciting to see such a big line up of international competitors. This event is really fun and social; I met at lot of new people from other clubs and also overseas sailors from India and China. Where next? In the future, I hope to qualify for the 2019 Optimist Worlds.”
In the 2.4mR, parasailor Chi Yueng Puk took the win for the second year running in front of Yuen Wai Foo.
In the RS Fevas, Hong Kong’s Johan van den Berg Riccardo Tocco sailed their way to the win in front of Macau’s FeiChi Cai and YuJun Chen.
In the Optimist Green Fleet which did a total of six races on Friday and Saturday, eight-year-old Felix Mulder took the win. Mulder said, “On Friday it was tough and I capsized and I nearly didn't want to go sailing. Today we had really good winds and everyone was really determined to sail but it was very windy so nobody sailed. It's very exciting to win but I also think the other sailors deserve to win. It's a really fun event and there are sailors from all over and it's really great.”
In closing, Truhol said, “Overall it’s been an excellent Hong Kong Race Week, we've had four fantastic race days of competitive racing, and I hope that everyone goes away with good memories and smiles."
由香港帆船運動總會和香港遊艇會合辦的「第六屆香港帆船賽周2019」今日圓滿結束。二百四十五位來自亞太區包括中國、柬埔寨、關島、印度、澳門、緬甸、挪威、瑞典、中華台北和香港等地的頂尖帆船好手雲集四個比賽場地，一連四日在淺水灣、深水灣、赤柱及螺洲分成八個小型帆船組別一較高下。
一如所料，今天風勢強勁，平均風速20海浬，陣風風速高達35海浬。在強風環境下，樂天小帆船初級組獲邀登上巡航船上觀戰；而樂天小帆船、RS Feva及2.4mR型帆則被安排在淺水灣進行比賽；Laser 4.7、雷射輻射型帆船、29er 及420型帆船則移師至風勢較弱的赤柱繼續比賽。
29er型帆船由香港代表Malo Kennish和Anatole Martin在13場賽事中得11分，成為冠軍。
香港代表Eloi Defline 和Thibault Minnie 在420型帆船賽中以4分領先同樣來自香港的Duncan Gregor 和Matthew Clark，成功奪冠；連日來可謂叮噹馬頭。
總裁判長Barry Truhol對今天的賽況作出評論：「我們知道今天將會是別具挑戰性的一天。今天風勢強勁達18至20海浬，但總括而言各選手的表現均令人十分滿意。」
4.7s型帆船賽由香港代表Patrick Ziteng Feng勝出，緊接有印度代表的Rammilan Yadav和中華台北代表Chi Yu Wu。在分組中，女性運動員成績排名最高的是中國代表Xinran Chen 。
雷射輻射型帆船冠軍得主為中華台北的Hsiu Chu Daniel Huang，第二名是香港代表Stan Picard，第三名同樣是來自香港的Stephanie Norton。
樂天小帆在淺水灣進行了三場賽事，而2.4mRs及Fevas型帆船分別進行了兩場比賽。比賽具挑戰性，陣風高見28海浬。
挪威代表Julia Jacobsen在最多人參加的樂天小帆船賽中勇奪冠軍，Jacobsen說：「連日比賽十分好玩！我很喜歡接觸新事物，很高興看見來自世界各地的選手一同參與這項盛事，在比賽過程中認識了不少新朋友。我的目標當然是希望能取得2019樂天小帆船世界賽的參賽資格。」
在2.4mR帆船賽方面，傷健選手畢熾揚力壓付遠威蟬聯冠軍。
RS Fevas型帆船賽，香港的Johan van den Berg Riccardo Tocco勝出比賽，第二及第三名選手是同樣來自澳門的FeiChi Cai 和YuJun Chen。
樂天小帆船初級組在星期五和星期六共進行了六場賽事，冠軍由8歲的Felix Mulder奪得。
在頒獎典禮上，總裁判長Barry Truhol表示這是一個圓滿的香港帆船賽周。所有參賽者在這四日裡均參與了一個充滿挑戰性的帆船比賽，他希望每人都可以留下愉快的回憶。