ABERDEEN RACING ACADEMY
January Edition: Newsletter 11 - 2018 29er Worlds
ARA's 2018 29er Team
INTRODUCTION
The Zhik Hong Kong 29er World Championship got underway with the Opening Ceremony at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s main Clubhouse on Kellett Island on the 2nd January. A traditional lion dance enthralled the 58 teams from 11 countries including Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, US Virgin Islands, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Slovenia, USA and Hong Kong.
ARA had 7 teams competing, the Academy also welcomed a new team from Canada, Henrick and Josh who spent the week training and racing alongside the Academy.
Our Optimist team had a well earned break over the Christmas period. The New Year saw the team get straight back into training with their first work out at Strive fitness on Saturday morning.
Training is now underway for the next big event - Hong Kong Race Week, both our Optimist and 29er teams will be competing. Our new Optimist team members will also have the opportunity to compete in Green fleet.
Please keep checking our facebook page for updates.
https://www.facebook.com/aberdeenracingacademy/?fref=hovercard
29er Worlds - Qualifying Series
The regatta, consisting of 58 boats, was split into two fleets (green and yellow) for the qualifying series each day.
Racing was cancelled on Day 1 due to gusting winds of up to 41 kts - well above the 29er Class wind threshold limit.
Day 2 saw sailors held on shore for a short time, waiting for the breeze to weaken slightly before making their way to the race course located off of Stanley. The breeze across the race track varied from 15kts at the sheltered top mark in Stanley Bay to 22kts (with gusts close to the 25kt wind limit) at the start area located closer to the channel, resulting in some epic capsizes as the fleet rounded the gate marks.
Four qualifying races were held on day 2 for both the yellow and green flights, there was some very close racing among the top boats. Karrie and Malo found the stronger winds much harder to come to terms with in the first race, this was evident from their results - finishing 21st and 18th. As their confidence grew during the day their results also improved. Harriette/Russell had a big advantage being the heavier boat. Augustin/Adam
finished their first two races but the strong winds were just too much for them and were unable to complete the final two races of the day.
The final four races of the qualifying series for the 2018 Zhik 29er World Championship were held off of Po Toi Islands.
To the relief of the sailors, the breeze dropped from the previous two days to a 10kt North Easterly. The breeze was fluky making a difficult race track that was heavily favoured toward the left.
The lighter breeze favoured our younger teams, as seen from their results. In race 5, Karrie/Akira were leading until the final top mark, Karrie hit the mark and dropped down to 2nd place, a frustrating moment for the pair. However, they continued to push on throughout the day finishing with a 3rd, 1st and 7th. Malo/Anatole were in the green fleet, they had a good race 5 finishing 4th, their 2nd race of the day was not too their liking though, however they came back from that disappointment finishing 6th and 2nd in the next two races. Harriette/Russell's weight advantage in the heavier winds did not pay off for the final day of qualifying, struggling to get a decent result. Casey/Nathan managed to get their best result of the competition finishing race 6 in 4th position followed by a 9th in race 7. Cosmos/Penelope also found some momentum throughout the last day, Penelope gained valuable knowledge and experience from Cosmos. Augustin/Adam also finished with some consistent results throughout the day.
At the end of the day the regatta was split into two fleets, the top 29 boats went into Gold fleet and the rest into Silver. The Academy was represented as follows:
Gold Fleet
Karrie/Akira in 9th position and Malo/Anatole in 18th.
Silver Fleet
Harriette/Russell 32nd, Casey/Nathan 42nd, Penelope/Cosmos 45th, Augustin/Adam 50th and Lewis/Tiger 54th.
Final Series
Racing was cancelled on day 1 of the Final series with a breeze well above the 29er wind limit, one Race Officer even reporting a gust punching up to 50kts!
Day 2 was another seriously brisk day for the final series of the 2018 Zhik 29er World Championship. Sailors were initially held onshore until the breeze moderated a little before both fleets were released onto the water. Racing was conducted off Stanley with Race 1 starting off in a north-easterly breeze of 22kts.
One race was completed, the breeze continued to build with the lead constantly changing. As the teams pushed hard to try and go faster, they also pushed each other; each keeping the pressure on the rest and the pace was frenzied - with the pressure forcing some teams to lose control and capsize.
For safety reasons only three Academy boats were launched, our 2 gold fleet teams and Harriette/Russell in silver fleet. Anatole/Malo worked hard against the conditions and finished 17th, Karrie's inexperience in heavier winds saw Akira and her finishing 26th. Harriette/Russell finished well in silver fleet finishing 4th.
The final day saw racers met with no breeze and a heavy fog as they descended onto Middle Island. Boats were initially held onshore.
By around 11.30am, a cold northerly had started to fill in and steadily built, compressing the fog into a more wet but transparent light drizzle. The gold fleet was sent to their race course in Stanley Bay where four races were sailed. This meant only two Academy boats were released onto the water, Malo/Anatole and Karrie/Akira. The breeze for the beginning of the first two races was at the top of the 29er wind limit however changing gears was critical as the breeze tapered off in the second lap of both the first two races. The wind moderated for the remaining two races of the day. Once again the conditions were just too much for both teams, although plenty of positives can be taken from the series. Malo/Anataole were the youngest youth team at just 14 and 15 in Gold fleet. Karrie/Akira finished 1st mixed team and Karrie was the youngest helm in Gold fleet.
Anatole/Malo finished 24th overall, and Karrie/Akira finished 26th.
The results from the Silver fleet remained the same from the previous day as the race committee decided to hold them onshore due to the breeze being in the upper class limit. Harriette/Russell finished 4th overall.
Congratulations to the whole team, the conditions pushed every member of ARA to their limits, they have plenty to be proud of.
STRIVE FITNESS NEWS
Strive fitness is proud to be an official performance coaching partner with Aberdeen Boat Club. Our goal is to build the fitness foundation of young sailors through various fitness oriented games and provide a comperehensive training program for all sailors for a better performance. We want to help ABC’s competitiors to become better athletes as the base of being better sailors, to enhance their athletic performance and achieve better results.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Hong Kong Race Week 2018
SPONSORSHIP
SUBSCRIPTION
Aberdeen Boat Club
Email: dinghycoach@abclubhk.com
Website: http://www.abclubhk.com
Location: Aberdeen Boat Club Ltd., 20 Shum Wan Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Phone: 852 2552 8182
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aberdeenracingacademy/
Strive Fitness
Email: info@strivefitnesshk.com
Website: http://www.strivefitnesshk.com
Location: Shop 415 The Arcade Cyberport, Pokfulam Hong Kong
Phone: +852 2338 9622
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strivefitnesshk/