Alma Mater Race

On the coldest day of winter thus far, the YMC Alma Mater Race, sponsored by the World Maritime Merchants Forum, took place on Sunday, the 15th of December, in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.

The Alma Mater Race is an annual fund-racing event for alumni from the same academic institute to race together and show off their sailing abilities. Crews are formed based on their affiliated schools, be it a local university, international school or secondary school, as long as at least half the team has the same affiliation.

Amongst the 54 entries, the largest participating academic association was the University of Hong Kong with a total of 10 boats, including four teams from Hornell Hall, one team from the Faculties of Dentistry and Ricci Hall. The race also attracted a range of secondary schools, including teams from Wah Yan College, St Joseph’s College, St Paul’s Co-educational College, Pui Ching Middle School, Diocesan Boys’ School, Queen’s College and King’s College.

The event also attracted some alumni from academic institutions further afield including Cambridge University, Oxford University, Imperial College, University of Manchester and University of Newcastle, Australia. Many sailors turned up fully decked out in team uniforms (and some in Christmas costumes), waving college flags ready to do battle on the water to claim victory for their Alma Mater.



Racing on RHATI and PHS ratings, the boats were given staggered starts in 10-minute intervals, with the slowest ATI group starting first, followed by the PHS division and the fastest RHATI boats starting last.

Due to the northerly monsoon, the breeze was blanketed by Kowloon Peninsula, and the race started at the club line in a varied light breeze of 1-4 knots. Race officer, Mark Dowding, chose a course that took the fleet from the club start line, through Lei Yue Mun and round Junk Bay Mark. The wind dropped significantly after the start creating in a huge parking lot at Lei Yue Mun, with the RO opting to shorten course near Kowloon Bay.

Race officer Dowding said "It was another great Alma Mater event. The wind was a little bit patchy, but it seemed to fill in towards the end and everyone got home and everyone seemed really happy crossing the finishing line.

" When the final results were in, J/70, Jovial, (skipped by Walder Ip) representing University of Newcastle, Australia, took the honours RHKATI, followed by Etchells, Diva Deux, (Oxford University) skippered by Mark Yeadon and then Magic 25 Phoenix (Chinese University of Hong Kong) skippered by David Ho.



In the PHS division, Zoe representing Imperial College, London, skippered by Johnson Yuen, took 1st place with Voyages 56, representing Hong Kong Sea School and helmed by Lam Chak Sum, in 2nd place and XT, from Pui Ching Middle School (skippered by Gary Leung), in 3rd.

The event will also see Johnson Yuen’s Zoe racing under the PHS division.

The Volvo Hong Kong to Hainan Race takes competitors on a 390-nautical-mile, historically downwind, passage to Sanya, on the southern China island of Hainan. Sanya, known as the ‘Hawaii of the East’, is a great finish location for rest and recreation. The race record of 23:31:52 was set by Seng Huang Lee / David Witt’s Scallywag in the 2016 edition.

For more information about the Volvo Hong Kong to Hainan Race 2024 visit https://www.chinacoastraceweek.com/race-hainan

 
   
 
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