The last two weeks since my return from Thailand/Cambodia have been a mixture of hard work and excess fun and relaxation. The endurance through the work has given way to ample enjoyment in times of play.

 

After getting some quizzes, an exam, and a presentation out of the way, another weekend was spent with the Hong Kong Hobie Club. This time, however, instead of crewing a 16, I made the jump to the long sought after Hobie Tiger (It turns out that this boat has some quirks... but nothing that I can’t look past for the chance to  finally sail on one).

 

I was crew for Mike S., who is the gentleman that was kind enough to lend me a spare bed after the festivities after the first day of the Cheung Chau Challenge in mid-March. Mike is a seasoned veteran of cat sailing, but is fairly new to the Hobie Tiger... he just took delivery on his earlier this month (April)! This was the second (and third) time that this boat has been sailed, so needless to say... it is nice and clean.

 

Saturdays race took us from the Hobie Club at To Tei Wan around the Nine Pins, Bluff, and Steep Islands and finally to the Clear Water Bay Marina (about 17 nautical miles). This [exhausting] race was followed by a few free beers while we ‘de-rigged’ the boats on the landing and a seafood dinner (and a few more beers) at a nearby water-side restaurant. I had planned to take a cab back to HKUST, which is not too far away from the Clear Water Bay Marina, but the Hobie gang was awesome enough to have the chartered bus drop me off right at the University! Talk about service with a smile!!! I, unlike several of the other sailors, headed just about straight to bed, knowing full well that my body needed every second of sleep I could give it.

 

Sunday I woke up and taxied it to the Marina where Mike and I rigged up and hit the water right after hearing the course layout, and well before anyone else. We used this pre-race time to iron out and smooth over a few kinks that we had run into on Saturday, and found that things were working a bit smoother (although there is, obviously, always room for improvement). Sundays course had us up in Sai Kung with a bit less wind (Trio-p, Shelter-s, no name-s, Sharp-s, Bluff-s, Trio-p. about 25-30 nm), but there were definitely plenty of stretches with some puffs. Our course also took us past HKUST a few times, which was really cool to see from the water (but just for a moment... we were pretty busy). We finished out the day, and the weekend, second overall. Not bad for the first race with a new boat and crew I would say!

 

Two days later I am still a bit sore... my body hates me, but my mind and heart are throughly satisfied with an AWESOME weekend of cat ocean racing!