Lantau Island Cup W ords: Jean - F ran c ois T remblay | Photos: S outh L antau O utrigger Canoe Club
RHKYC’s women’s crew recorded a third place finish on Saturday, and got some great practice surfing ocean swell and ferry wakes – very different from the calm waters of Deep Water Bay where we normally practice! Lyesin Wong, who steered for the ladies, deserves a special shout-out for the clean lines she chose.
he RHKYC outriggers men’s crew surprised themselves and competing teams by convincingly winning the Standard category on the first day of the inaugural Lantau Island Cup on 28 April, in a tough race that pitted them against crews from other Hong Kong clubs.
awarding the prize to the RHKYC men’s team. Owing to injuries, family commitments, and travel, the RHKYC men’s boat was short a man on Day 1 and Sara Jordan agreed to join the team. Jordan was also the event co-ordinator within the RHKYC.
The Lantau Cup is a new two-day event on the local paddling calendar co-run by the Lantau Island Canoe Club, based in Discovery Bay, and the South Lantau Paddle Club, based in Cheung Sha beach on south Lantau.
Conditions on Saturday were rough with winds peaking at force 5 in the morning, but there wasn’t any lightning as we had feared the day before. Setting the pace in seat 1, Damian Bethke led the men off to a powerful start that put us in the lead, a position we held throughout the race. The rest of the team consisted of Jordan, Ben Michael, JeanFrancois Tremblay, Nick Crabb and Mark Maynard steering the boat.
The first day was a 22km race from Discovery Bay around Peng Chau, past Hei Ling Chau and along the beautiful coast of Lantau Island to Cheung Sha Beach. The second day was an 18km race from Cheung Sha straight back to Discovery Bay. In between, on Saturday night, there was a barbeque at Palm Beach resort where paddlers camped for the night. “The RHKYC men had an unfair advantage with Sara in their team,” joked Iain Brymer, chairman of South Lantau Paddle Club before
One of the challenges of being ahead of the pack is that there’s no-one to follow on an unfamiliar course. Maynard, who had a map stretched out on the spray deck in front of him, saved the day, even if the distraction did cause the boat to zigzag a bit.
The second day of the Lantau Island crew was very different from the first. All the crews were mixed, meaning men and women, and several competitors who had raced a day earlier were not as fresh with their bodies still sore and heads aching from staying late at the barbecue. RHKYC crews finished in 5th and 6th in their category, out of seven. Participation in the two-day event was a section-wide effort for the RHKYC Outriggers, who had to paddle two six-person canoes more than 20km across some of the busiest shipping channels in the world, to get to and from the starting line. Well done, all! The racing and socialising were fantastic (thanks, Lantau clubs!) and we will definitely be there again next year.
JUNE 2013 AHOY! |
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Rowing
The men’s crew finished in 2h 4m 55s, followed by Lamma in 2h 8m 13s and South Lantau in 2h 11m 48s. Racing in a different category with a high-performance “unlimited” canoe, Lantau Boat Club (Discovery Bay) finished only 11min faster than RHKYC.