St. James’s Place China Coast Regatta 2020 – Day 2 Race Report

Another great start to Day 2 of the St. James’s Place China Coast Regatta. 34 boats came out for racing; all IRC racer classes were set three windward/leeward sausages and the HKPN class were treated to two laps. However the wind later dropped to around 5kts during the first races so boats struggled to finish the long course. The Goddess of the Wind must have listened to sailors' prayers and delivered 15kts of breeze before the second start of the day. Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen decided to set all IRC racer classes another two windward/leeward courses to finish the day. The IRC Premier Cruisers sailed two islands courses and the the HKPN boats were given one windward / leeward and an island course.

As the day progressed the breeze strengthened to around 18kts (with gusts up to 25kts), and as a result there were quite a few broaches and ripped spinnakers. Most sailors came home exhausted but with big smiles on their faces. All the leaders from Day 1 of the regatta were able to maintain their leads in their divisions including Nick Burns’ Blue Bunny scoring an impressive six wins in two days in IRC Racer 2 Sam Chan’s Freefire notched up 1-2-2 today narrowly leading Shawn Kang’s Alpha+ with only one point in IRC Racer 0. In the IRC Racer 1 division, Marcel Liedts’ Zannekin took another three bullets and holds on to their strong lead ahead of Ambush. With four wins out of six races Nick Southward’s J-109 Whiskey Jack is on top of IRC Racer 3. The final day of the regatta starts tomorrow with more perfect sailing conditions forecast!