We had another great turnout for racing over the Easter weekend with 13 boats rigging up on the beach. The 10.30 'sharp' instruction for leaving the beach from the race officer was delayed due to... the race officer being late, apologies all round!

It looked like we'd have some reasonable wind for the day so a 'medium' long distance course was set from just outside the bay, up to an A mark near Disney which was left to starboard. From there the fleet had to round Kau Yi Chau also leaving it to starboard and head to Datum Rock. Then after rounding Datum, back round Kau Yi Chau again but leaving it to port, followed by a long downwind leg to the finish line just outside DB.

The swell from the previous two days strong wind was quite pronounced and, with the wind dropping just at the start, made for an uncomfortable and slow beat to windward. As usual the F18s were away and involved in a close three boat fight between Choi, Neels and Stephen. Behind them the rest of the fleet (2 Darts and 7 Hobies) spread out looking for the best wind but all converged within 8 or 10 boat lengths at the A mark.

The route to Kau Yi Chau proved taxing with more light wind, bigger swell and the added problems of laid up container vessels. Trying to pick the best route to avoid wind shadows and the boats themselves meant that places were traded between most of the slower fleet. After rounding the island and sailing downwind to Datum rock there were even more container boats but at least the waves helped to keep things moving.

Watching the F18s heading back while the rest crawled to Datum was a bit demoralising but at least the halfway mark was approaching! After rounding the rock Tom looked in a commanding position, battling it out with both Ting and Cathy on Hobies back to Kau Yi Chau. But as the island got closer Ting was able to pull away and Gabriel holding on to the starboard tack for longer managed to get ahead of Tom. It was a close run thing around the island with the fleet splitting for the downwind leg. Tom managed to catch Cathy, (later to realise they had both chosen the wrong side of the course) to the left (South) to round Siu Kau Yi Chau whilst everyone else carried on and gybed later.

Around this time the F18s were hitting the finish line with Choi and Joe securing first place after just over 2 hours of sailing. Then Neels and Peon grabbed second followed by Stephen and Jade in third.

In the slower fleet it was anyone's race at this point with Gabriel pulling away from the Hobies to the right and Cathy and Tom on the left. With Siu Kau Yi between them for some time it was a tense bit of racing to see who came out the other side in lead position. As the wind shifted slowly from the east to the southeast Gabriel took lead position as it became apparent the far right had paid. It was now between Gabriel, Ting and Clara to fight it out downwind to the finish. At this point Janet, suffering from seasickness, fed the fish then promptly fell asleep on the trampoline leaving Gabriel virtually single-handed. He kept the lead until 20m off the finish line where the wind died completely and left him completely becalmed.

Ting, being slightly further out just managed to eek a knot of speedout of the last zephyr and crossed the line first. Four minutes later the lightest of currents allowed Gabriel to drift over the line bagging first of the slower fleet on corrected time. Clara, also suffering from the lack of wind, made it a few minutes later.

So congratulations to Choi and Joe who are looking unstoppable this season and received the prize of a bottle of wine from the race officer.
Thanks again to all those who came out to support the race.