The 2008 Air Canada Asian Open Regatta was held on a beautiful weekend, from the 25th to 26th of October. Despite the fury of Typhoon Hagupit wreaking unprecedented damage to out beach and boats, we still managed to pull it all together in time to get 51 beachcat entries.
The pre-regatta party started us off in a classy mood at the impressive Pier 7 Cafe. The evening provided the perfect weather to relax outdoors on the alfresco terrace, sipping cold drinks and enjoying the food. The regatta kit lived up to the usual high standards, thanks to our Regatta Chair- Stephen Wallace.
Results
An overall ranking by handicap can be seen here- Overall Results , for your interest (not official)
Read on for a more detailed write-up.
Day 1 started with great wind on the water, boasting solid Force 4 winds, often touching on Force 5. The day's racing started with a very long course which took most competitors over one hour to finish, even in the fast conditions. By Race 2, Race Officer Bo Fussing wisely decided to opt for only two laps of the geometric course instead of three. This worked to perfection, as it allowed us to get in 4 races on the day. The wind started to fade slightly in Race 2, and the competitors were not struggling quite as much. Anything the Race 2 lacked in wind, Race 3 made up for it! 17 knot Easterly winds brought the whitecaps back and made for some really exciting racing. The Darts and Hobies really took advantage of it to keep ahead of the F18s in Race 3. The wind seemed to blow itself out after that, and Race 4 winds were notably easing.
The day's results saw some commanding leads built up in both the Hobie and Dart fleets, with Jimmy and Iris Shum winning 3 out of 4 for the Hobies, and Tom Nunan and Michele Felder winning every race in the Dart division. The Open division was less clear. Fung-Tat Choi and Joe Shieh had 2 wins, but also 2 disqualifications. Apparently they forgot to read the racing instructions which tell them not to pass through the starting gate on the downwind leg. This left the door open for Ross Joliffe and Alex Gautier to take the lead. Mike Scantlebury was spied helming Peter H's Tiger, but they still couldn't catch the others.
The new race course format did seem to throw a number of competitors off, as they would sometimes forget to avoid the gate downwind and to go through the gate upwind.
Back on the beach the party just got started, and we were treated to some wonderful gourmet food from Chef Pour Toi. Nobody left hungry, especially after the desserts! (I recommend the cheesecake).
A number of prizes were given out to competitors for their memorable and often comic experiences on the water.
Day 2 seemed destined to be another windless regatta day. Competitors waited on the water for more than an hour, waiting for the wind to fill. As the wind shifted from North East all the way around to the South, it finally started to fill. A bit of chop on the water made the racing a bit more challenging as the wind only filled to 5 or 6 knots. It certainly did have the effect of bring the fleet closer together with a few bumps witnessed between boats, and a very crowded starting line. Nevertheless, the wind was quite suitable to get the boats moving around the course.
The final race was the Sunbrella Islands Race. With the upwind mark set in place to round, much confusion ensued. When on the beach during the morning briefing, winds were coming from the Northeast, so we expected the upwind mark to require a starboard rounding, and all of the islands were to be left to starboard. However, the change of wind during the day meant that to go around the upwind mark, it would have to be left to port. Well, most of the competitors went around the mark to port, and 11-13 boats ignored it (by leaving it to starboard and not rounding it at all) and proceeded to sail straight around the islands with a big lead on the fleet.
After some discussion back on the beach, we agreed that the race committee was not clear enough on this point, and decided to count everyone. It was certainly better than disqualifying a large group of racers.
The post-race festivities were as good as we have ever had, with a scrumptious outdoor BBQ at Hemingways, plenty of drinks and loads of prizes.
