Four Peaks Race

The Four Peaks Race is not just about sailing and running. It's also about planning and training, and taking on the demands of a two-day event with determination, team work, and individual performance. The rewards are immense and, put simply, there's nothing else like it. It's special.

Back in 1985, noted writer and historian, Stephen Davies, came up with an adaption of Britain's Three Peaks Race, fine-tuned for local weather and mountainous terrain. It attracted 15 boats and was won by Keith Jacobs' Bimblegumbie. A year later, 17 boats entered with Cuchulain, a Carter 33, claiming victory. Since then, the Four Peaks Race has become the Aberdeen Boat Club's signature event and is now a fixture on the local sailing and running calendar.

Held in the early months of the year, entry numbers have waxed and waned from a high of 40 in 2015 to a low of 12 the following year. After a hiatus of two years due to Covid-19 restrictions (2021 and 2022), the event 'restarted' in 2023 with a total of 13 entries. This year, the number was again 13.

Wind predictions the day before were Force 4/5 and, on Saturday, the 25th of January 2025, they proved accurate. Reefed sails were seen all around the starting area in Tai Tam Bay. On Hebe Leg-Ends, the J/80's low freeboard meant it was going to be a very wet race for the crew while MoHan, the specially-adapted Solaris 40 entered by Sailability Hong Kong, was sailing with headsail alone. Sadly, just before the start, Wicked announced it was unable to continue.

 
   
   
 

 

Aboard the committee boat, Shun Fung, anchored in Tai Tam Bay, were club commodore Chris Pooley, general manager Robin Sherchan, race officer Gideon Mowser, marine services manager Alex Johnston and administrator, Mark Cheng. This year, in a first for the club, there was a strong media contingent of reporters, photographers and publicity staff, focused on getting the word out to the public.

At 1025, the RO raised the postponement (AP) flag giving him more time to finalise courses and position marks accurately. At 1050, an official welcome was made and the courses announced – Course 2 for IRC and Course 6 for PHS A and B. The big differences being that the faster boats would round Waglan on their way to Lantau and sail out to North Nine Pin on their way home. For their part, after the start, the PHS boats would leave Beaufort Island to starboard and, when returning from Sai Kung, pass TCS2 to port.

At 1049, the AP came down and, at precisely 1100, the starting gun sounded for the five IRC starters followed five minutes later by a gun for the seven PHS boats. With no windward mark, the boats set off into the 16-knot easterly before making their way westwards to Cheung Sha Beach and their first peak on Lantau Island.

Very soon there was drama as Wild Card suffered mainsail problems. Two cars had parted from the mainsail track and, not long after, another three followed suit. With little chance of making effective repairs, skipper Glenn Smith announced his retirement at 1200. That left 11 boats still racing.

 
   
   
 


First to land its runners through the surf on Cheung Sha Beach was PHS A entry, Skywalker. The others arrived in quick succession – at this point in the race the fleet was fairly concentrated. Fastest up and down the 934-metre Lantau Peak were Neo One's Matthew Carey & Thomas McManners, recording a time of one hour and 27 minutes.

Runners are not necessarily skilled paddlers and there were some spectacular 'dunkings' in Cheung Sha's shore break but by nightfall the boats were on their way to Lamma Island, and arguably the most difficult peak in the race – Mount Stenhouse. "On Lamma, you have to find the right track and it's very steep. Sometimes you are climbing, not really running," said Stefan Fillip, skipper of Neo One. "Fortunately for us we arrived during daylight." None of the other boats did.

From Lamma it was a short dash to Repulse Bay, and Violet Hill. This 'peak' is generally considered the easiest but darkness does present its challenges. Neo One's runners, Carey & McManners, clocked a Let-Go time of 53 minutes. This was 10 minutes faster than Andreas Bueel & Sebastian Jessop of the Swan 53, Athena. By this time, the boats had spread out considerably. The last to land its runners was MoHan at one o'clock on Sunday morning.

Then the long haul to Sai Kung and the second highest peak in the race, Ma On Shan at 702 metres. First to land its runners was, again, Neo One. The same runner combination of Carey & McManners set off on their ascent of the 702-metre peak at 27 minutes after midnight. This time, however, their up and down time was two hours, 16 minutes and 45 seconds, or fourth fastest behind Hebe Leg-Ends' Dwayne Edwards & Alexander Liauw (01:58:00), Athena's Lucy McNally & Imogen Short (02:06:30) and Skywalker's Jonathan Ashish & Gregoire Bouzereau (02:10:00). Perhaps the Neo One runners weren't pushing it too hard as, at that point, they knew they had the race in the bag. What a shame Wild Card had to drop out so early. "For us, it was quite a lonely race," lamented Neo One's Stefan Fillip.

 
   
   
 

 

As often, Port Shelter on Sunday morning was almost windless as crews struggled to keep moving. With the prospect of a long and tiring sail all the way back from Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong Island, Hebe Leg-Ends and Ocean's Five decided to call it a day. That left eight 'die hards' heading for the finish off Middle Island.

First to cross the line at 05:19:36 was, as expected, Neo One. Their time for the race was 20 hours, 52 minutes and 42 seconds. Along with line honours, they also won the combined IRC division on handicap. Distance over the water for IRC, Course 2, was approximately 90 nautical miles.

In 2nd place, IRC, was the X-35, Vixen. Skipper Josephine Cheng, in her second Four Peaks Race, tackled the peaks with the same runners she had used in as 2024. "We did a little better this year," said Cheng. The order of the peaks is good for us and, on Saturday, gave us time to anchor in beautiful Cheung Sha Bay and watch the sun go down. We even discussed our plans for next year's Four Peaks!"

Cheng also believes the Aberdeen Boat Club could consider promoting the event in China. "We plan six months ahead; organizing teams, preparing Vixen, adjusting travel plans and so on."

 
   
   
 

 

For Kay Rawbone BEM, founder and driving force behind Sailability Hong Kong, an organization for people with disabilities, this was her third Four Peaks Race. "The sea was lumpy early in the race and we were just using our headsail to get across the start line. One of our runners, Celvin Tsang, did all four peaks! At 24, he has a bright future in sport."

Rawbone continued: "Nobody moaned or groaned, we just kept going. Altogether five boats retired, but we stuck it out. Our boat, MoHan, a Solaris 40, has been equipped for people like, for example, Mark Poon, who was on the port helm. Mark is one of Sailability's most active sailors."

For the record, although the inaugural event was in 1985, and 2025 was the 41st year, 2025 was in fact the 39th edition of the race since 2021 and 2022 were cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

For race officer, Gideon Mowser, this was his second time as chief official. "Firstly, a big word of thanks to our sponsors Gateway Group for their resort prizes, and Zulupack for their running bags and packs; also to Kerry Wines for their continued support of the club. They all made significant contributions to our event and we hope they join us again next year.

"Apart from the five boats that retired, there were no major incidents this year. Shaking up the order of the peaks was, in my opinion, a good idea and most people seemed to like it. With some 30 volunteers involved in scrutineering, peak controls, safety and race management, the Four Peaks is a highly complex yet rewarding event. I was very happy to be a part of that in 2024 and 2025."

 
   
   
 
Widget is loading comments...
 
 
 
COPYRIGHT © 2022 FRAGRANT HARBOUR PUBLICATIONS LTD