Postponed from 2010 due to the proximity of Super Typhoon Megi, the VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race will start on Wednesday 19 October at 1210hrs. Offering 656nm of sheer exhilaration, this Category 1 Offshore race has become a biennial calendar fixture since 2004 and is currently recognized as a qualifying race for the CYCA’s Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race.
The race is not for the faint-hearted, with challenging downhill conditions of 15 to 30kts often leading to gear failure on even the best-prepared boats. Entrants must pass strict scrutineering and safety checks, and are required to have a minimum of 50% of their crew qualified in First Aid and have undergone Safety at Sea Survival training.
Grant Wharington’s 2004 monohull record of 42h 45m 41s may be under threat from the Super Maxi Audi ultra, however Singapore-based skipper, Ludde Ingvall, while confident of taking line honours for the 2011 event, does not expect to top the podium after IRC handicaps have been applied to the finish times unless he and his team have sailed an exceptional race.
According to Neil Pryde, the defending IRC Racing 0 champion, the VinaCapital Hong Hong to Vietnam Race is“..one of the great Ocean races, combining an exhilarating downhill slide with a very interesting tactical challenge that unfolds as the fleet approaches the Vietnam coast …the race that nobody wants to miss”. Pryde is looking for another offshore win with his well-drilled crew on Welbourn 52, Hi Fi, while Sam Chan is back again with his latest TP52, Freefire. From Singapore, Jonathan Mahoney on Humphreys 42 Zanzibar is participating for the first time.
2008 IRC Racing 1 winner Ambush was the only boat in her division to finish that year, however the Isler/ Taylor owned Mills 41 will have a battle on her hands this time around, with the Kinmonth/ Burns owned Mills 40 EFG Bank Mandrake making her first appearance on the route to Nha Trang together with fellow first-timers Sell Side Dream (A40/ Simon Powell) and Cutting Edge (Grand Soleil 40/ YK Szeto).
Tim Wilson’s El Oro is, literally, in a class of her own, being the only Premier Cruising boat to enter this year’s race, however the Auzepy-Brenneur, thwarted in her attempt to race in the 2010 event, is champing at the bit after last year’s post-Megi delivery trip, with Wilson saying “We are looking forward to the VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race because we got a feeling of how good this Race could be with 30kts downwind last year and 20kts speed down the waves with reefs in.”
Let us hope that the wind gods deliver!