The annual Cheung Chau Challenge weekend of sailing took a new twist this year with a wholly new format. This year, 2 closely-matched teams were created from the pool of particpants. Both teams sported their own color, either Orange or White, with each boat denoting their colour by hanging a large piece of ribbon from the back of the mainsail.
A few sailors 'disappeared' over lunchtime for a long leisurely meal,only to arrive so late back at the beach that they not only missed theskipper's briefing, but the other boats had already gone on the water.Not knowing which team they were on, and with no ribbon, theseself-designated 'wildcards' added an element of confusion to the race.Good, strong winds in race #1, saw all races struggle for control.Predictably, the F18s quickly pulled away, but some were seen soonafter, in a logjam of Tiger capsizes at the wing mark. With a verystrong showing at the front of the fleet, the white took race #1.
In race #2 the winds had eased a bit, and the Orange team seemed tomanage better, showing their strength at midfleet. Race #3 had lightwinds, with all boats other than the F18s struggling to cut through thechoppy waters. Once again, Orange proved too strong at midlfeet.
The second day of racing started with light winds and eased toalmost nothing. Only one race was run during the day, with huge timegains and losses in the fleet resulting from which side of the coursethey chose to sail.
An early retirement was welcomed by all, as we revisited the windsurfbar for food and a couple of beers (I must confess). Race Officer BoFussing awarded a couple of prizes for mishaps on the water, includingthe ever-unfortunate Gabriel Kicks, whose Dart 18 was split open on thestart of Race#1 by an overly-aggressive Hobie 16 crossing the fleet onport.
Full results can be found here.
-Tom Nunan
Commodore, LBC
