Hi Fi targets sound race to rule the waves again
Neil Pryde's Wellbourne 52 yacht, Hi Fi, will be out to defend the line honours' title against a tough 30-boat field as the biennial Rolex South China Sea Race 2010 takes to the water at Victoria Harbour tomorrow.
Crews and navigators will be trying to pick the optimum route across the South China Sea in the next three days from Hong Kong to Subic Bay, in the Philippines, in the 565-nautical-mile race, considered the ultimate Asian blue-water offshore contest.
The breeze is typically heavy when the yachts leave Hong Kong, and then turn south-east across the South China Sea. But once they close in on the Philippines, it is a question of staying in the breeze, which can often be light approaching the coast and the finish.
'It is one of the most challenging races I have participated in,' Pryde, who first joined the race in 1966, said. 'It requires a lot of organisation to control the 52-foot [15.8 metre] boat; I'm happy I've good crew members well prepared for the challenges.'
Other than local boats, overseas participants include Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55, Australian Maid, Ray Roberts' TP52, Evolution Racing, Geoff Hill's TP52, Strewth, and Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46, Subic Centennial. Richard Strompf, the race chairman, said the yachts had to have a minimum length of 10 metres in the category-one ocean race, and be self-sufficient and able to meet serious emergencies without outside help. Subic Centennial, winner of the first overall on IRC handicap, two years ago, is making a return to Hong Kong hoping for a repeat of the 2008 success.
'The race is demanding and the crews must be in good physical and mental condition. We also have to do a lot of weather reading if we want to win the race again,' Echauz said.
The race record of 47 hours, 43 minutes and seven seconds was set by Karl Kwok's Beau Geste in 2000.
Blue-water battle
The number of nautical miles that the yachts face in the South China Sea Race from Hong Kong to the Philippines: 565
