2010 REVIEW 2011 PREVIEW - International Dragon Association

spite their knowledge of thecurrent, the French team endedup second behind the RoyalYacht Squadron, but before theRoyal Danish YC and the RoyalHong Kong Y.C. The other eventwas the Défi des Clubs Alliés duYacht Club de France. Indeed,this prestigious club choosesour class for its annual regattaopen to all clubs affiliated to it:17 different yacht clubs werepresents.2011 looks good for France!First, the Semaine Internationalede Cannes was classifiedGrade 1 by IDA, two new raceswill be added to the usual program:Coupe des Pyramides inLa Grande Motte (Mediterraneancoast) and Trégor Classic(Brittany) mainly focused on theclassic Dragons.This year, the Championshipof France will be held in Deauvillefrom 19 to 22 May 2010.French Dragon Associationwww.afsid.orgHong KongIf you like to race in heavy wet weather gear around icebergs, thenHong Kong is not the place to be. But if you enjoy sailing in shorts(usually) and in flat, warm waters at any time of the year, then thisis be place to be, and you are cordially invited to join us. Althoughwe sail the year-round, our racing season starts in September andends in May each year, under the organization of the Royal HongKong Yacht Club, our home base since the 1930’s. In the winterwe are fairly busy racing and if you in Europe are having race withdrawals,then it is the ideal time to visit Hong Kong. Many times wehear that you have stopped in Hong Kong on your way to xxxxx.Next time, you should contact us if you have time to sail on theweekend.During the 2009-2010 racing season, the usual culprit, KarlGrebstad, with his co-conspirators, Rick Herbst and Greg Jarzabkowski,won the Dragon of the Year even though Phyllis Chang,Marc Castagnet and Lars Stenfeldt won the Nationals, after whichevent Marc immediately bought himself his own Petticrow. Apparentlyhe had enough of women telling him what to do (he has awife, two daughters, and numerous female housekeepers).In the 2010-2011 racing season, half of it has already passed,but there are plenty of races coming up until May 2011. The racesare listed in the Regatta Schedule elsewhere in this magazine, butsome of the more interesting ones are the second half of the Nationalson 15-16th January 2011, Class Regatta on 12-13th February2011, and Spring Regatta, a two-day event on 14-15th May 2011.In the last Saturday of March, which is always during an unbelievablypopular competition staged in Hong Kong commonlyknown as Rugby 7-a-side, a sport involving a ball of some shapeand played feverishly on a football pitch. If you need a break fromthe rugby scene and want to relax a little before the rugby finalson Sunday, join us for the Alternative 7’s when we sail several races,until we can take no more. It is actually fun and is becoming moreand more active as the years progress.Another well-attended one-day race in Hong Kong is theAround the Island, attracting 200-220 competitors every year. Notall in Dragons, though. It is a pursuit race and an exciting, if notbeautiful, event to enter. We see competitors from all over theWorld coming to join every year, including Dragon sailor, LorandGombos from Hungary.In September every year, we also have Autumn Regatta, a twodayevent. This year a team from Japan came to join. If you arethinking of coming to Hong Kong and would like to join as a helmor crew, or come with a team, please let us know in advance andwe are sure to get what you want in the Dragon class. The AutumnRegatta, the Around the Island Race, and other races starting fromSeptember 2011 will be posted from August 2011 on the websiteof the Yacht Club at www.rhkyc.org.hk. You may always contact usthrough the RHKYC who knows how to connect with us.Hong Kong Dragon Associationwww.rhkyc.org.hkPage 33