2018 Luneng Hilton Cup Dalian – Jinshitan International Hobie® Sailing Competition
2018 Luneng Hilton Cup Dalian Jinshitan International Hobie Sailing Competition is hosted by Dalian Jinshitan Tourism Group, sponsored by Luneng Hilton Hotel Group and Zhong’enke’ao (Beijing) Sports Technology ,and organized by Sanya Hongbo Aquatics Club.
This competition is held on August 25th and 26th in Dalian. The location of the Dalian opening ceremony, closing ceremony and the racing area is Jinshitan Golden Beach.
After racing for two days in Dalian the boats are put on trailer and the sailors on a bus to Jinshitan where the racing will continue. Jinshitan is the newest IHCA Hobie fleet.
One regatta, two different locations to test the sailor’s skill. All organized for easy transport and accommodation for the sailors.
There are 19 teams in total participate from 7 countries. Making this a truly international competition. Though some coming from Europe have found the very long flight to race adding some extra pressure to the competition.
Day 1 racing
With five races all back-to-back on the first day the sailors were tired. The breeze started at around 7 knots and built to a 15+ knot wind by the end of the day.
The brothers Damrongsak and Kitsada Vongtim (THA) showed everyone why they are best Hobie 16 sailors in Asia. They won all five races. The racing for 2nd and 3rd is heating up between the Thai and Hong Kong Teams.
Day 2 racing
The day started with a very light land breeze. Mid-morning the Seabreeze arrived but not as yesterday. 3 races were held in 5-7 knots of steady wind. Damrongsak and Kitsada Vongtimagain showed constancy but couldn’t get a clean sweep. With 2 firsts and second making a total of seven 1st paces and a second. Showing the importance of a good start Damrongsak and Kitsada Vongtim were trapped and couldn’t tack causing them to fight back during the last race. That was all it needed for Teerapong Watiboonruang and Nutpatsorn Wachirapongsin (THA) to win the last race and secure second place overall. Tsang Chi Choi Brian and Sum Pun Yan (HKG) rounded out the podium finishers. Ye Wei and Sin Ka Pui in 9th place were the first placed boat from China.
With the on-water photographer uploading live from the water to the event web site. There were over 30,000 people viewing the Hobie photos. This continued hours after the racing concluded.
With racing continuing in Jinshitan which is located at the beach of Yellow Sea, south of Liaodong Peninsula, 50km to Dalian. It consists of eastern peninsula, western peninsula, wide hinterland between the two peninsulas and bathing beach
Jinshitan is named for its stone. Strange stones that are remarkably true to life scatter along the coastline, which makes it win the good reputation of “Offshore Stone Forest” and “Natural Geological Museum”.
Sanya Hongbo Aquatics Club Co.Ltd. is specialized in operating of sailing and sailboard, education and training, and competition organization. At present, it has set up 6 operating bases in Sanya Yalong Bay, Hainan Island, Shenzhen Xiaomeisha, Shenzhen Guan lake, Dalian/Jinshitan and Guangxi Beihai Weizhou Island. There are 100 thousand visitors and education students every year, which can provide comprehensive water sports products and services such as sailing and sailboard experience, short-term camp education, advanced training, qualification and events.
