China blazes a deep blue trail
Mainland crew conquers high seas in iconic Australian race
The crew of Noahs II did themselves and China proud in the recent Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
After almost two and a half days traversing the high seas, Noahs II wound up 12th overall and eighth in its division, the best ever performance by a boat representing the Chinese mainland in the annual blue-water classic.
The 70-foot Volvo Ocean class vessel finished the race just after midnight on Dec 29, taking exactly two days, 11 hours, seven minutes and 22 seconds to complete the 628-nautical-mile course.
“I am thrilled with our team’s effort and the result,” skipper Li Hongquan told China Daily.
“Although this is a grueling race, the crew played it really well.”
A fleet of 85 yachts (ranging from the supermaxis measuring over 100 feet in length to the smaller 30-footers) and over 1,000 sailors took part in this year’s iconic race, which began under a blue sky and light winds in Sydney Harbor on Dec 26.
“We were prepared for the worst of weather but, in the end, we had a comfortable sail down the east coast of Australia to Hobart,” Li said.
He was even more heartened by the fact that most of the crew had never competed in such a big race. “All our training and hard work paid off,” he said.
Li also paid tribute to the confidence that Noahs Yacht Club invested in the crew and the financial support the team received from Wilson Lee.
“This was a great opportunity for the crew to get familiar with bigboat ocean racing and will go a long way to promoting the sport in China,” he added.
Team manager John Qu was equally impressed.
“Sure, it would have been nice to finish at the top of the division but we have improved our overall per- formance on previous years which is a good thing,” he told China Daily.
“Don’t forget most of the crew have never competed in a race like this, so this is quite a remarkable achievement.”
He said the team’s overall strategy was to “play it safe”.
Wild Oats XI won its ninth line honors, fending off Black Jack and Comanche in a thrilling battle between the supermaxis.
All five supermaxis — also including InfoTrack and Sun Hung Kai Scallywag — were impressive as they tacked up the harbor, battling it out to be the first to clear Sydney Heads.
In the middle of the pack was Noahs II, which cut an impressive path with its yellow and red hull and red spinnaker.
Apart from China, another 10 international boats competed in the race.
Seng Huang Lee’s Sun Hung Kai Scallywag — registered with the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club — retired five hours into the race with a broken bowsprit. In all, six boats failed to complete the course.
While the faster and technologically designed maxis and supermaxis battle for line honors, the race tends to be won by the smaller boats after time, length and handicap are taken into account. The 2018 handicap winner, the 66-foot Alive, owned by Tasmanian Phillip Turner, was no exception.
As he accepted one of offshore racing’s most prestigious prizes, Turner was still coming to terms with his success, saying: “It still hasn’t sunk in.”
The self-proclaimed introvert told Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s website that he does not “like all the attention” that comes with winning.
Turner recalled his upbringing in Hobart when his father would take him to Constitution Dock to watch the fleet finish the race one by one, afterward listening to or reading the crews’ tales of triumph, woe and adventure.
The iconic event became a part of Turner’s DNA, each year a building block to a lifelong dream that has now been realized.
“It has always been a highlight for me,” said Turner before being presented with the Tattersall Cup.
Alive’s overall victory was only the fourth by a Tasmanian boat, but the first since Bob Cumming’s Screw Loose in 1979. The previous two were GD Gibson’s Westward in 1947 and 1948.
Alive, which was fifth over the line, finished in two days, one hour, 40 minutes and 36 seconds, winning with a corrected time of three days, six hours, 41 minutes and 16 seconds.
Second was the New South Wales entry Wild Oats X, owned by the Oatley family and skippered by Stacey Jackson, who had an all-female professional crew.
Their corrected time was three days, seven hours, 55 minutes and 11 seconds, followed by the Hugh Ellis-owned and Adrienne Cahalan-navigated Voodoo, from Victoria, in three days, eight hours, 44 minutes and 20 seconds.
This was a great opportunity for the crew to get familiar with big-boat ocean racing and will go a long way to promoting the sport in China.” Li Hongquan, Noahs II skipper