Typhoon Weather for Typhoon Series

Typhoon Vicente was approaching; there was quite a swell further out to sea; the possibility of a T3 signal later in the day loomed; wisely, a more cautious approach was taken when courses were set for the races held by Hebe Haven Yacht Club last weekend.

Geometric courses outside of Port Shelter were anticipated for Races 5 and 6 of the planned 10-race Hebe Haven, Nautica Typhoon Series 2012 last Sunday July 22. But, with the T1 weather warning already hoisted, it was decided to stay closer to shore.

Winds were gusting from 9 to 25 knots and wind direction was not stable—varying by 25 degrees—making for demanding sailing conditions. Most of the boats coped well with the conditions, but skippers had to be very alert and responsive so as to not get caught out.

Vixen lost a lady overboard in Race 5 and Fly By Wire lost two of her crew in Race 6 and almost capsized. Only one member of the crew stayed on board to rescue the situation.

Dexter II’s skipper Walder Ip was thanked at the Prize Giving for stopping mid-race to help those in the water. Dexter II picked up the two Fly By Wire crew members and transferred them back to their own boat.

“Any boat getting close to those [in the water] I think would do the same,” Mr Ip explained. “At that moment we were probably the closest one to the people in the water.

“The boat had been driven too far away [from those in the water and was floundering], I think this is very important. We just stopped the boat, downed the main and used the engine, threw the buoys and pulled them in with the rope. We sent them back to their boat. It was not too difficult; they just dropped into the water and swam to their boat. I think they were not the only ones to lose crew, but the others picked them up on their own.”

The star performers this week were Free Fire, Mandrake and Taxi who won both races in IRC-A, B and D Divisions, respectively; meanwhile, J Chi had a double first in the J80 Division.

Dexter II and Red Kite II shared the honours in the IRC-C Division, winning one race each. In the Sportsboat Division, Fly By Wire came first in Race 5 and Sidewinder won Race 6. In the J80’s, a relaxed all ladies crew in Hakawati came second in both races.

Sam Chan, has a number of boats called Free Fire that are identified by their different lengths. He explained to The Epoch Times how they differ and how he fared on the weekend.

“We would have loved it if it [the wind] had been bigger. We love big winds, the bigger the better. We were doing 22 knots today. The boat [today], a TP52 of German JV design, was built in New Zealand by Paul Higgs—one of the best guys in the world.

“The day we took over the boat, two years ago, in St Tropez, we went to Africa in the Morocco race with 177 boats and we beat 176 of them. This [52] is a good racing boat. The big one [70 ft] is a fast cruiser that can do 20 plus knots,” he continued. “And I also have a 470 [4.7 m] dingy. We race all kinds of boats.”

When asked how she gets on against maxi Genuine Risk, Chan explained how they can beat her on handicap.

“Genuine Risk is bigger and it has more ballast and a canting keel, but in the last China Coast race we beat them on the water. It’s too complicated for them, but on a long haul, sure, they will beat us on water, not on handicap.

“We will do other races this year such as Hainan and the China Coast. I am not sure about the Kings Cup. It’s a good fun boat,” said Chan.

Meanwhile, Akiko, the skipper of Hakawati, was very pleased with their performance.

“I am really proud of my girls; they did really, really well today,” said Akiko. “Considering it was very breezy and there were a lot of boats broached, all of my crew stayed very calm. They stayed on the boat and everybody was happy; nobody was freaking-out. We put our spinnaker up when a lot of boats didn’t do that; we kept it up and put it down well. We had no incidents on the boat and everybody was happy.”

She then went on to explain that they are having a good series.

“We have been placed every race. We had a first last week and previous to that we have had all seconds. But, it is the first time we have had an all-girl crew for a long time. Today is the first time we have had a lot of the first crew together. In the past couple of weeks we have had different girls on and off the boat.

“We are all still friends at the end of the day and that’s what matters,” added Akiko.

Overall positions in the series: IRC-A Division: Freefire, extended her lead, with Tornado holding onto second place and Surfdude is third (only three competing). EFG Bank Mandrake has now taken over top spot in IRC-B Division. Red Kite still holds onto first place in IRC-C Division and Taxi is still ahead of Boss Hogg in IRC-D Division. With her double first, J Chi has regained the lead over Hakawati in the J80’s. After the unfortunate problems for Fly By Wire, who was leading the overall standings prior to Race 6, it is now a close contest between them and Merlin in the SMS Sportsboats.

Next week: Race Day 5 of 6 in the Hebe Haven Yacht Club’s Quest Yachting Summer Saturday Series 2012.

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