First yachts arrive in Hong Kong

The first yachts have started to arrive at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on Middle Island, Deep Water Bay, Hong Kong this morning local time (UTC+8).

GREAT Britain arrived at 0800 local followed by Derry~Londonderry~Doire just before 1100. Invest Africa and Mission Performance arrived early afternoon and Switzerland, Henri Lloyd and Team Garmin are expected by the end of the day.

Old Pulteney and Qingdao are estimated to arrive Sunday morning, with PSP Logistics, Jamaica Get All Right and OneDLL following late Monday or early Tuesday subject to prevailing conditions.

The forestay repairs are only taking about an hour per boat followed by tuning as required and refuelling. The first boats are expected to head for the start line later today. Individual times over the line will be used to calculate elapsed time, which will be the basis for Race 9 from Hong Kong to Qingdao.

The fleet is estimated to arrive in Qingdao between 10-12 March.