The final yachts arrived in Subic Bay last April 2, wrapping up the 2018 Rolex China Sea Race. A total of 29 boats took part in the 2018 edition with 265 competitors hailing from 22 territories.
The 18-year-old multihull record was broken by Karl Kwok’s MOD 70 Beau Geste with top speeds of 37kts and her impressive elapsed time of 38 hours, 30 minutes and seven seconds wiped off the previous race record in 2000.
It wasn’t a traditional Rolex China Sea Race in terms of wind strength and angle. But it still provided competitors the challenge that they seek with offshore racing. The weather proved to be a tad difficult during the race’s latter stage, especially for IRC 0 division yachts. The breeze started filling in behind the other divisions as they made their way towards the Philippines.
The IRC overall win, from IRC 1 Division, went to Fred Kinmonth and Nick Burns’ GTS 43 Mandrake III (HKG), followed by YY Yan / YF Liu Ker 42 Custom Seawolf (HKG / China) also from IRC 1.
“This was the second or third major offshore race for Seawolf and I’m delighted to see the team’s improvement and willingness to push harder in the race. The boys did a great job! I hope we can be an example for other boat owners from China, who are new to offshore sailing, so that more owners take part in this type of race, as well as to prove that anyone with good training, knowledge and experience can perform well in world-class offshore racing,” said Tiger Mok, commenting on Seawolf’s overall performance.
Third overall from the IRC 0 division went to Philippine entry Ernesto Echauz’s TP52 Standard Insurance Centennial.
“We had a very good race. It was trouble-free. Out of all the races we have done, it was the most relaxing. There were no problems at all. It’s very meaningful for us, as we have been racing together for more than 10 years now.” said Echauz.
Father-and-son double-handed entry Philippe and Comos Grelon’s Tbs-Aya took 15th overall and second in the IRC Class 2 behind Glenn Smith’s Grand Soleil 45 Blackjack.
On arrival, the Grelons said: “We wanted to have fun that’s for sure and to finish, which was probably not too difficult, as the conditions were absolutely perfect for us. I think we only had maximum breeze of 30kts. Sailing double-handed, I think it takes quite a bit of skill. You need to know what you’re doing and have a lot of trust in the other person too. The good news is we have been sailing a lot together, we know each other perfectly, we don’t argue and that’s amazing. We had a very cool and quiet race.”
On decisions, Philippe added, “One says let’s do this or that and the other says yes, okay. I prefer to sail double handed because we know each other very well. There was no problem.”
In IRC Premier Division, Peter Cremers’ Warwick 75 Shahtoosh had an awesome run, taking the division win and fifth overall, climbing up the ladder from 13th in 2016 edition. In the IRC Cruising Division, first time Rolex China Sea Race competitor Michael Ashbrook’s Jeanneau Sitka took the division win.
Awarding of the on-location prize was held the day before, but the official prize-giving won’t happen until sometime in April at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.
The current edition of Rolex China Sea Race started April 8.
