3:23 AM Mon 19 Oct 2009 GMT
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'Coming, ready or not! Full Metal Jacket chases Mandrake round the mark. RHKYC China Coast Regatta 2009'
Guy Nowell/RHKYC
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Grizzled veterans of China Coast Regatta did not look enthralled with conditions as they arrived at RHKYC's Middle Island Sailing Centre for Day 2 of China Coast Regatta 2009 and, as the RO checked the available wind off the South East of Lamma Island and found only 3 to 4 knots, it was not looking good on the race track either.
The prophecy that "it will fill in at 10am" came true, to the relief of all, and Steve Bourne got the first of three windward / leewards underway in 9 knots north easterly at the scheduled time. The Racing Divisions were looking forward to three races, with the Cruising and Premier Cruising divisions being offered their first windward/leeward of the series followed by an Islands course.
Having logged 8 boats over at the start the previous day, Bourne thought the lighter conditions might make for a less frantic start line. Not a bit of it! The Race Committee had deliberately set rating bands for the divisions to try and ensure quality racing for all the entrants and, while eyes may be on the juicy encounters between the 'big boats' in the A division, the six-strong C Division is having just as hard fought a contest with extremely close racing.
Racing Division B boasts 11 boats in a tight rating band, and their second start of the day fierce competition in a gusting 16 knots resulted in five boats over the line and a general recall as the fleet fought for position. All the divisions offered entertaining racing, with the usual quota of kite wraps, well executed roundings and the like, but one-on-one racing was provided by the 3 strong TP52 'class' within Division A and the 3 A35's heading up Division C.
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Three cheers for the red, white and blue! Kuoll Baby, Roxanne, Stell. RHKYC China Coast Regatta 2009 - Guy Nowell/RHKYC
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With Chris Dickson on board, Chris Meads' Full Metal Jacket finally started to perform to her potential, recording a 1,1,2 for the day. 'Yesterday was sussing out the boat. Today we made some adjustments and worked hard on sail trim. It made all the difference,' said Dickson. This puts FMJ within 2 points of Ray Roberts on Evolution Racing, who today could 'only' produce a 2,4,1. Mandrake continued her solid form and now lies in third place overall, level on points with FfreeFire 52.
Division B has been dominated thus far by the Isler/Taylor Mills 41 Ambush, which took today with a hat-trick of firsts on the water and on handicap, however an 'intriguing' battle is shaping up for second place between Doc Nic and Rick and Inge Strompf's Orient Xpress, with the X41 three points ahead of the Bashford 41.
Divisions C, Cruising and Premier Cruising all saw a whitewash today, with Helmuth Hennig's Men at Work, Simon Boyde's Cave Canem and Marcel Leidts' Blauwvoet extending their leads at the top of their divisions.
Tomorrow's racing promises the 20 kt breeze usually associated with this regatta, and all classes will contest a windward/leeward before completing the series with an islands course which takes them back to RHKYC Kellett Island for the overall prize-giving tomorrow night.
by Lindsay Lyons, RHKYC
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