ROLEX China Sea Race Report

(Hong Kong, China)- The 2023 Rolex China Sea Race, the first offshore race in Hong Kong since 2019, got underway on Wednesday, April 5th at 1120hrs in misty weather and a southerly breeze of around 3 to 5 kts. The start line was located in front of the Clubhouse, with Hong Kong’s iconic skyline providing the perfect backdrop for the start of this flagship offshore race that goes 565.0nm across the South China Sea from Hong Kong Harbour to Subic Bay, Philippines. 

Before the start, the sailors gathered at RHKYC’s Kellett Island Clubhouse for a “lion dance” to wish the competitors a safe journey across the ever-challenging South China Sea. The Honourable Mr. Michael Wong- Deputy Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Commodore- Lucy Sutro, and Rolex China Sea Race 2023 Race Chairman Cameron Ferguson were invited to officiate the ceremony. 

As in all great offshore races, the commitment of long-standing competitors is paramount to the ongoing success of the Race. In this year’s edition, we find Nick Southward’s J/109 WHISKEY JACK participating in the race. They have extensive blue water experience and have been regulars on the Asian offshore circuit. Southward’s J/109 WHISKEY JACK returns for a fourth Rolex China Sea Race, with a full crew on board. Previously, WHISKEY JACK took 2nd place in the IRC 2 Division in 2012 and 3rd in the IRC 2 Division in 2016 when she raced as a double-handed entry!  

Joining them is another offshore veteran, Nicolas Cohen-Addad with his J/122e JINN. Cohen-Addad is set to add the flagship offshore Rolex China Sea Race to his offshore list, which currently includes the “Hong Kong to Vietnam Race” and the “Hong Kong to Puerto Galera Race”. While this will be his debut in the Rolex China Sea Race, his passion for racing offshore sees him returning annually to all of the great Asian offshore races.

The third J/Team entered is Andrew Pidden’s J/99 JUICE. This will be their first Rolex China Sea Race in their “new” J/99; they’ve been campaigning it for the past two years and hope their “training missions” in various races will prove their talented team is up to the task to hang in with the big boys. 

Currently, the fleet headed east towards Lei Yue Mun Gap and ghosted its way through the wind hole at North Point as the southerly breeze was blocked by Hong Kong Island. 

After passing through the Lei Yue Mun Gap the fleet was finally greeted with some fresh breeze. As the competitors make their 565.0nm journey across the South China Sea to Subic Bay, they will be heading south slowly upwind on the first day.  A northeast breeze is forecasted to fill in by Thursday; hopefully resulting in some champagne sailing as the fleet makes its way toward the Philippines.

With the weather predicted to be influenced by the northeast monsoon filling into the South China Sea, the routing for the start of the Race saw the majority of the fleet heading up east towards Taiwan and then working down to the Philippines. 

The J/122e JINN reported early on that they had a “lovely wind of 15 kts from SSE. Going along nicely in good weather.”

The update mid-morning from JINN was, “The weather forecast still shows a hole forming south of Pratas, which is our general direction. We hope to get the easterlies sooner than the forecast since the model has been wrong from the beginning!”  Sailing photo credits- Guy Nowell and ROLEX/ Daniel Forster. Follow the ROLEX China Sea Race on Facebook here  For more ROLEX China Sea Race sailing information