24 teams representing 18 educational establishments from across Hong Kong and Macau are preparing to do battle this weekend at the annual, hotly contested, Boase Cohen & Collins Inter-School Sailing Festival. Being held right in front of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s, Middle Island clubhouse and opposite the Hong Kong Island Sea View Promenade, the exciting Inter-School racing is a spectacle not to be missed.
Teams of three boats per school will compete in two divisions over two exciting days of racing. The format for the event is team racing – approximately 200 highly competitive short course races will be run; putting not only tactics, but boat handling skills to the test. It’s all about numbers and the competitive sailors are compelled to think not only about their own position on the race track, but rather their team’s final place in the race. All teammates’ results are combined and the teams carrying the lowest combined score will progress through to the finals. Team racing requires exciting tactical sailing, where coming first may not be the best result for the team! (all three scores combine for the result i.e. 2,3,4 beats 1,5,6)
All the schools in a division start racing against each other in a Round Robin format then, if the schedule allows, the top teams will sail off against each other to decide the winner.
Last year saw King George V School took home the win in the Feva Division (thanks in part to renowned junior sailing siblings, the Gregor brothers) with the Hong Kong Schools Sailing Association winning in the Pico Division. There is always fierce competition from Hong Kong Sea School and they will surely be back this year looking to regain their crown.
Many of the schools competing participate in the Club’s sailing programmes throughout the year either as individuals or as part of their school’s curriculum. Joining the 16th anniversary of the Inter-School Sailing festival for the first time are the Harrow International School and Hong Kong Academy.
The event is also designated a Clean Regatta by the Sailors for the Sea Organisation; a non-profit organisation that educates and empowers boaters to protect and restore our oceans and coastal waters.
Media representatives are invited to attend at the Middle Island hardstanding any time on Saturday or Sunday and may also attend the prizegiving at Middle Island at 1600hrs on Sunday 11 March. Please emailprdept@rhkyc.org.hk for arrangements.