Police Regatta offers a glorious day's sailing
The 2010 Police Sailing Club Regatta has offered both exciting and challenging sailing for the 20 starter fleet across three divisions. Hosted at the Hebe Haven Yacht Club, Sai Kung on November 12, with sailing taking place in the waters of Port Shelter, the annual event attracted a wide range of Force sailors ranging from novices who have just qualified after completing training courses at Ma Liu Shui Police Sailing Centre to experienced competitors who recently returned from representing the Force in the World Police Sailing Championships in Germany in September.
Under clear blue skies, the regatta started with a refresher class, following a race briefing by race officer Mark Newman, the Rear Commodore Sailing of the Yacht Club. Soon the wind picked up steadily, with winds of up to 20 knots providing extremely challenging conditions for both the one and two man crews. The rescue boat was quite busy and most crews got wet at some stage of the day's racing.
In the two-manned dinghy division, the overall honours went to veteran Force sailor Sergeant Gary Leung of Commercial Crime Bureau and Inspector Poon Chi-ming of Airport District. Gary has been sailing for over 30 years and has represented Hong Kong in the Asian Games. The Overall champion in the Pico class was Detective Police Constable Brian Tsang Chi-choi of Central District while in the Laser class the title went to Sergeant Chau Kim-fai of Traffic Hong Kong Island.
Police Sailing Club Chairman Paul Stripp said: "We've had a glorious day's sailing as always and we're exceptionally pleased with the results. These were extremely challenging conditions for dinghy sailing and it is particularly heartening to see the development made by some of the junior club members, which has only been made possible as a result of the development of the Police Sailing Centre at Ma Liu Shui and the continued support of the Police Sports Council for Police Sailing Club activities. The club likes to think all officers gain from participation and as a result take something back to the workplace in terms of personal development and life balance."
Hong Kong has been selected to host the next Police World Sailing Championships, scheduled to take place in October 2012. Police Sailing Club Treasurer Francis Cheung said: "As the host it is very important to field a strong team, so it is planned that the Hong Kong Police will enter three boats, requiring 12 sailors and a number of reserves. The results of the regatta and the regular Saturday racing series will help select the candidates for a very competitive event.
"Though the World Championships will involve larger four-man racing boats, the skills developed and gained in dinghy racing are critically important to the competitive racing that we will face in 2012."
The Police Sailing Club operates out of Ma Liu Shui Police Sailing Centre and runs regular training courses for those wishing to experience this exciting sport first hand. For those Force members who already hold a level one qualification, regular race series are held throughout the year on alternate Saturday mornings. The winter series will commence on December 4, and details have been posted on the Force Noticeboard.
Force
sailors are expected to work out for the next Police World Sailing
Championships scheduled to be held in Hong Kong in 2012