Contents 12 20 26 32 THE BRIDGE FEATURES ROWING EVENTS | PROMOTIONS 4 Calendar 12 Rolex China Sea Race 32 Junior Easter Rowing Camp 39 On the Horizon 6 Commodore’s Message 20 Rolex China Sea Race – 33 Dragon Boat Season Kick Off 40 F&B Food Promotions 8 General Manager’s Message Whiskey Jack Double-Handed 41 Wine Page 10 Leading the Way on 43 Wine Form World Oceans Day MARINE 10 Volvo Ocean Race SAILING 34 Marine | Boatyard Hong Kong Stopover 23 Starter’s Box 35 Ship Shop CLUB LINES 11 Club Awards 24 Mark Laying 36 Classified Page 44 Club Directory 11 Kellett Island Development 26 Boase Cohen & Collins 37 Marine Directory 44 Members, Staff and Other Inter-School Sailing Festival News and Announcements 29 Sail Development | Training 30 ASAF Youth Sailing Championships: Hong Kong Optimist Fleet in Singapore PHOTO: ROLEX / DANIEL FORSTER www.rhkyc.org.hk Rolex China Sea Race Vice Patrons Jimmy Farquhar, Li Fook Hing, Bob Wilson; Commodore Mark Whitehead; Vice Commodore Robert Stoneley; Rear Commodore Sailing Anthony Day; Rear Commodore Club John Woo; Honorary Secretary Charlie Manzoni; Honorary Treasurer George Li; Rowing Captain Ng Kong Wan. For other Club contact details please refer to the Club Directory on page 44 . Advertising or Editorial Enquiries contact RHKYC PR Department at [email protected] or 2239 0307 or 2239 0312 Ahoy! Design Michelle Shek, MYND Design. Articles for Ahoy! can be emailed to [email protected] or left in the Ahoy! pigeon hole at Kellett Island. The Club reserves the right to edit articles. All opinions expressed in this publication are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the views of the General Committee of the RHKYC. Copies of the magazine are available at Reception and to view the e-version of the magazine (and back copies) go to the RHKYC website. MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN NATIONS’ CUP EFG Nations’ Cup Jeanneau Class Regatta Edmond de Rothschild Asparagus Promotion Sunday 1 May re-sail Spring Regatta in the Compass Room 1 May to 30 June Saturday 14 May Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 May Healthy and Low-fat Menu in the Bistro with selected items at Middle Island The Bridge and Shelter Cove 1 May to 30 June 1 Middle Island Big Day Out Kellett Island Wine Fair Shelter Cove Wine Fair CLASS RACING Mother’s Day Lunch Buffet MAY Steps 1 and 2 in the Compass Room Optimist Practice Optimist Silver Squad Adult Beginners Sailing Course HKSF Levels 1 and 2 Supervised Sailing Session Supervised Sailing Session Optimist Silver Squad Youth Sailing Club Adult Beginners Sailing Course HKSF Levels 1 and 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 Supervised Sailing 8 Session Steps 1,2,3,4 and Steps 1,2,3,4 and Steps 1,2,3,4 and Graham’s Port and Steps 1,2,3,4 and SPRING REGATTA Go Optimist Go Optimist Go Optimist Portuguese Wine Dinner Go Optimist CLASS REGATTA HKSF Levels 1 and 2 in the Compass Room HKSF Levels 1, 2 and HKSF Levels 1, 2 and HKSF Levels 1, 2 and HKSF Levels 1, 2 and Steps 1 and 2 Optimist Silver Squad Go Sailing Go Sailing Go Sailing Go Sailing Optimist Practice Youth Sailing Club Supervised Sailing Session Optimist Silver Squad Steps 1,2,3,4 and Go Optimist HKSF Levels 1, 2 9 10 11 and Go Sailing 12 13 14 15 Adult Beginners Design, the Practice Women in the 20th Century CLASS RACING Sailing Course of Making – A Talk by Jason Wordie Steps 1 and 2 HKSF Levels 1 and 2 – A Talk by Andrew Reid Optimist Practice Optimist Silver Squad Adult Beginners Sailing Course Optimist Silver Squad Youth Sailing Club Adult Beginners Adult Beginners Sailing Course Sailing Course RYA Powerboat J/80 Crew Course Level 2 Course RYA Powerboat RYA Safety Boat Course Level 2 Course RYA Safety 16 17 18 19 20 21 Boat Course 22 PVOCC Course PVOCC Course Adult Beginners Joseph Perrier Adult Beginners CLASS RACING Sailing Course Champagne Dinner Sailing Course Steps 1 and 2 HKSF Levels 1 and 2 in the Compass Room PVOCC Course Optimist Practice Optimist Silver Squad Optimist Silver Squad Youth Sailing Club Adult Beginners Supervised Sailing Session Sailing Course J/80 Crew Course Supervised Sailing Session Adult Beginners Sailing Course 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Wines and Beer of the Month Asparagus Promotion Healthy and Compass Room Tinpot Hut Pinot Gris 2014/15 Low-fat Menu – Marlborough New Zealand Bistro Les Haut Du Canalet with selected items at Middle Island Réserve Rouge 2014 and Shelter Cove – France James Boag’s Lager (375ml) 30 31 1 May to 30 June 1 May to 30 June 4 | MAY 2016 AHOY! Copyright: Yvan Zedda/Gitana SA EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD GROUP PROUD TO BE THE OFFICIAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT PARTNER OF THE ROYAL HONG KONG YACHT CLUB The Rothschild family has a remarkable history that dates Sebastien Josse, skipper of the Multi70 Edmond de back over 250 years and their association with competitive Rothschild Gitana XV, the latest in the Edmond de Rothschild sailing, which began in 1876, is truly unique. For almost 140 Group’s dynasty of offshore trimaran racers and winner of years, « Gitana » has conjured up images of a line of boats, the 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre competition, secured an which tell of a family passion that has constantly been impressive 3rd place in the 2014 Route du Rhum. driven by the pursuit of excellence. The Rothschild’s are The victory was widely hailed by his peers, given the boldness continuing a tradition based on expertise and innovation, of his feat: striking out alone on the Atlantic against 30-metre performance and beauty, a history where each generation and bigger trimaran maxis while skippering an offshore has left its own remarkable imprint. Baron Benjamin de multihull equipped for the first time with T-foil rudders. Rothschild, Chairman of the Edmond de Rothschild Group, has inherited his family’s keen passion for the sport. Creating Aided by this spirit of innovation and cutting-edge the Gitana Team in 2000, he transformed a family passion technology, the Gitana Team has now set a new challenge into a school of excellence and has been actively involved in for itself: taking part in the next Vendée Globe competition, their success ever since. starting on 6 November, with a new Imoca-class boat. Edmond de Rothschild Group is proud to be the Official Wealth Management Partner of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. Edmond de Rothschild Group has been named the title sponsor of both the Spring and Autumn Regattas as a new Regatta Series. EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD (SUISSE) S.A., HONG KONG BRANCH Suite 5001, 50th Floor, One Exchange Square 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong T. +852 3765 0600 – F. + 852 2877 2185 www.edmond-de-rothschild.hk HK.indd 1 10.03.15 10:02 Commodore’s Message My congratulations to everyone who participated in the Rolex China Sea Race, especially those boats which won their divisions. It was terrific to see Alive set the first new outright record in 16 years (by one second under 12 minutes) and a special mention should also go to Whiskey Jack, which has set a new benchmark for a double-handed record. Given the conditions we enjoyed, I suspect those records will stand for many years. A full report of the race is included in this issue of Ahoy!. The Bridge At the time of writing this I’m looking forward to the finale of the Old Mutual Top Dog Trophy Series, the HKRNVR Memorial Vase, which is being contested on the last day of April. The top boats have it all to play for as there are no discards! I’m also looking forward to the very popular EFG Nations’ Cup in association with Auckland Tourism Events & Economic Development on Sunday 1 May. This is one of the best days on the water you’ll have all year, with a great party afterwards and a public holiday on Monday. What more could you want from your full service Yacht Club! I hope you have all got your entries in. Commodore Mark Whitehead It was a pleasure to hear the success of the Rowing Section at the Hong Kong Indoor Rowing Championships. 會長韋浩德 Not only did the squad win lots of medals, but one of our own members also broke the Hong Kong record in the over-60 category – well done Bryan Massingham! We have also just finished yet another successful Easter Rowing Camp. The intense training programme allows new rowers to improve quickly and all participants were thrilled with the outcome. Roll on the inter- school rowing competition which is being organised for this month. Last month four of our Sharks sailors – three Optimists and one Laser – were part of the youth sailing team representing Hong Kong at the ASAF Youth Sailing Cup 4, held in Abu Dhabi. And as you are reading this, the Club is also being represented by a team of Optimist sailors at the Top of the Gulf Regatta in Thailand. My congratulations to all concerned! I am pleased to welcome back Edmond de Rothschild as the title sponsor of the Spring Regatta over the weekend of 14 and 15 May. As usual you can enter online, or sign-on on the day. See you on the water! Finally, I am delighted at the news that the 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be stopping in Hong Kong in February 2018, which will bring huge benefits to the general sailing community in Hong Kong and specifically to this Club.