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Weak breeze dashes hopes of record race

Hopes harboured by at least three crews of breaking the Hong Kong to San Fernando Race record ended before they even started the 480 nautical-mile bluewater race to the Philippines yesterday.

The 26-strong fleet had been told at a skippers' briefing at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club that they would be faced by more than 20 knots of breeze from the northeast at yesterday's start from Deepwater Bay.

Instead, the breeze had petered to a little over eight knots by the start with little prospect of it filling in during the next few days.

Race officer Les Charles said he was now expecting the front runners to arrive in the harbour port of San Fernando in northern Luzon on Saturday morning, over 20 hours outside the record set by Whitbread Round-The-World Race competitor, Rothmans, in 1991.

Frank Pong's 69-footer Jelik, Sam Chan's 70-footer Ffree Fire and Benoit Lesaffre's catamaran Atmosphere were all touted as having the potential to break the record of two days, two hours and two minutes.

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