"We have been working hard over the last twelve months, I must thank my staff and partners, our joint effort made it possible to be here today to celebrate the race's sixth edition." declared Mr Chen Xiaohua, general manager of the Hainan Ocean race Co., the event's organizing body during a press conference today. "I'm delighted to see that many crews have decided to be back this year and we have some interesting and competitive new teams too. The event promises to be enthralling and I hope we will have an exciting race week and that everyone will be able to enjoy the beauty of the Hainan island."
42 boats have entered this year's edition, for a total number of over 370 sailors and 14 different nationalities representing China, the USA, the UK, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia, Italy and even Canada. The fleet is divided into three groups, IRC 1/2, IRC 3/5 and the new Fareast 18R class, the one-design boat designed by Dutch/South African naval architects Simonis Voogd with 6 teams.
Another one-design yacht, especially created by the race will make its debut at the Aloha RHNR 2015 is the attractive Dubois50 conceived by famous UK designer Ed Dubois and built by Chinese shipyard Farnova with the intention of becoming the official boat for the race future editions. The boat was officially presented today, with an unusual multiple launch ceremony in the marina, with the three bottles of champagne simultaneously breaking on the boat's bowsprits. The newcomers will have to push hard as some past winners, to the likes of Wang Lei and his fully Chinese crew onboard the Shenzhen-based Swan 82 Ubox, who claimed overall victory in the IRC-B1 division last year, will no doubt fight to defend their title.
French internationally renowned judge Bernard Bonneau is also back in the role of race director. "This is a very special regatta for me, it's the fifth time I work on this event that I believe has a strong potential to become a reference on the offshore racing scene in this part of the world and to attract more and more international teams, thanks to its 580 nautical miles' course, varied conditions and tactical coastal sailing."
Racing will start tomorrow March 21 at 10:00, with one or more in-port races in the bay of Sanya for all the classes, followed by the official opening ceremony in the race village.
Editor's notes:
Created in 2010 by the Chinese Yachting Association (CYA) and backed by the local government, the Round Hainan Regatta is a key part of the plan to place the island on the world sailing map and develop yachting-related business, as confirmed by the two highly successful Volvo Ocean Race stopovers in 2012 and, more recently, in February 2015.
The RHNR regatta is unanimously considered as one of China's major international sailing events and the 2015 edition will further consolidate the island's successful project to become China's sailing capital. Famous for being the only Chinese tropical island with a tropical monsoon climate, Hainan isn't just one of the country's top vacation spots, but the surrounding waters and wind conditions and its world class marinas make it the ideal and natural venue for international sailing events.
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