The first pursuit race of the National Australia Bank Top Dog Trophy Series took place on Saturday in un-seasonally chilly Hong Kong in an 8 knot northerly. 

With patchy breeze and an incoming tide at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s Kellett Island Clubhouse, RO Brenda Davies opted for a Hung Hom start for the Lipton Trophy, with no delay to the published start times. 

For the uninitiated, pursuit races work on each boat or Class of boats being given a different start time based on their handicap, which in a perfect race would result in all boats finishing at around the same target time of 1630hrs. 

With 47 boats on the start line the 52 minute start sequence went without a hitch, Pandora ‘Solstice’ holding off the faster classes for two laps of Tai Koo Shing before being overtaken by Flying Fifteen ‘Squiffy’.  Cruiser ‘Sai Kung Belle’ was making steady progress, in sixth place at this stage, with ‘Ambush’ back in fortieth, but the beauty of the pursuit race is in the chase, and by the final gun, it was Jamie McWilliam on ‘Sai Kung Belle’ who lifted the Lipton Trophy, with Howard Williams on ‘Squiffy’ holding on to second and Isler/Taylor owned Mills 41 ‘Ambush’ building up to take third place.

Lipton Cup Sailing in Hong Kong (Pic: RHKYC/Richard Knight)

Prizes were presented by the General Manager of National Australia Bank, Mr Andrew Macintosh, and, when the bar ran dry, it was off home for an early night in preparation for Sunday’s 1O1O Next G ™ Around The Island Race.