I just came across a YouTube video-clip of the daily fireworks display that marks the end of a day at Hong Kong DisneyLand.

Hong Kong Disneyland (Chinese: 香港迪士尼樂園) is the first theme park inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort that also includes 2 hotels and vast public parks.

Hong Kong Disneyland is located on reclaimed land in Penny’s Bay, Lantau Island and opened to visitors on 12 September 2005.

With the daily fireworks show lasting around 10 minutes each, imagine the money that gets spent by die company on a yearly basis?!

While some of the world’s top golfers were dueling at the 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open in Sheung Shui yesterday, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club hosted their Zoke Around the Island race.

Hong Kong’s largest and most inclusive sailing event got underway in the morning, featuring a packed start line of over 200 boats, a record 15 Outrigger Canoes and one Offshore Rowing Boat.

The sailboat fleet featured all types of sailing boats, with the largest classes being the 29 IRC Cruisers, 45 HKPN Cruisers and 17 Hobie 16’s, with a notable fleet of 14 Impala heading the list of one-design keelboats.

Mr Lui Rui Jin, Chairman of ZOKE, fired the 0825hrs warning signal to get the start sequences underway on both inner and outer start lines, with start sequences culminating with the F18 fleet at 0950hrs.

The sight of over 200 sailboats heading East to Lei Yue Mun never fails to impress, even in a slight haze, however the paddlers mounted an impressive display to reach the Convention Centre in Victoria Harbour by the time the boats had disappeared to the East.

The RHKYC’s Around the Island Race (Pic: ZOKE / Fragrant Harbour)

In the Mixed Division, Hong Kong Outrigger Canoe Club (HKOCC) won in 4hrs 08m 45s, while in the Women’s Division, Hong Kong Island Paddling Club (HKIPC) took the title in 4 hrs 30m 23s. The blue riband event saw the Men’s trophy lifted by HKIPC ‘A’ crew in 3hrs 44m 40s.

Meanwhile, back on the race track, Race Officer Jimmy Farquhar was making a considered decision to shorten the course at Green Island , to spare boats the pain of landing in several holes in the area of Western. This proved to be an astute decision, as the breeze fluctuated between 0 – 6 knots all afternoon in the area between Cyberport and Sheung Wan.

There was a close-run finish on the water, with Mark Thornburrow taking the line honours gun in 3h 42m 32s with his F18 Hobie Tiger, just ahead of the Isler/Taylor owned Mills 41 ‘Ambush’, who took monohull line honours.

It was definitely a day to suit the Dinghies, with the Flying Fifteens taking the first four places on corrected time, ahead of 470, Ruffian and Etchells. Provisional results show that at the poolside Prizegiving tomorrow night (Monday) the La Cigale Trophy for the overall winner will be lifted by David Chow, with Hillary King receiving the Lady Godiva Trophy for first lady helm.

Top 5 on Elapsed Time [Provisional Results]

(Class, Sail Number, Boat Name, Skipper) 

 F18 2225 — (Mark Thornburrow)

 Cruiser HKG2208 Ambush (Joachim Isler/Drew Taylor)

 SBR HKG028 Fly By Wire (Frank Van Kempen)

 F18 1891 I Am No Angel (JC Broyelle)

 SBR ’064 Merlin (Steve Bourne)

Top 10  on corrected time [Provisional Results]

(Class, Sail Number, Boat Name, Skipper) 

 FF15 HKG3701 Puff ‘N Stuff (David Chow)

 FF15 HKG3830 Squiffy (Howard Williams)

 FF15 HKG3500 Fatal Attraction (Tom Sheppard)

 FF15 HKG3722 Noisy Forefather (Sam Chan)

 470 HKG88 Little Dragon (Mike Halkes)

 Ruffian HKG515 Victory 9 (Li Fook Hing)

 Etchells GBR1333 Swedish Blue (Ante Razmilovic)

 J/80 HKG2235 J Chi (Jonny Hodgson)

Dragon HKG46 Davinloong (Lowell Chang)

 FF15 HKG3882 — (Jin Ogawa)

The RHKYC’s Around the Island Race (Pic: ZOKE / Fragrant Harbour)

Summer is upon us here in Hong Kong and if you are looking to wet your toes in the Hong Kong waters after a long week at the office, why not head to Lamma Island’s Tai Wan To (Power Station) Beach this Sunday for the Laracy & Co Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival 2010. 

Organiser Mark Burns, who sometimes wears his other hat as the Tournament Director of the successful Hong Kong Cricket Sixes (won by South Africa last year) tells us that forty teams, including the athletic Boracay Bumshells team from the Philippines have entered this weekend’s Festival.

“It’s a fantastic line up of teams.” said Race Director Brad Tarr. “With strong teams such as defending champions the Island Paddle Club, plus the likes of the Boracay Bumshells, Stormy Dragons and the Lamma Dragons it’s going to be another really competitive Festival.”

First staged in 2007 this is the fourth annual Festival, also known as the “Lamma 500” due to its international race standard 500m course length. 

“The Lamma 500 is one of the most exciting, colourful and friendly sports events in Hong Kong but with a real competitive edge,” said Mr Damien Laracy, Principal at title sponsors Laracy & Company. “We’re delighted to continue our support for the event. “

The Lamma 500 is one of the most challenging and competitive races on the Hong Kong dragon boat calendar with deep, fast water on a course set against the incredible backdrop of one of the territory’s highest peaks, Mount Stenhouse, and the dramatic industrial landscape of the Hong Kong Electric Power Station. 

Securing its reputation as one of the most challenging races of the season, the Festival also features the only 1,000 metre dragon boat race to be held in Hong Kong. A record number of teams are expected to compete in this extreme race.

The Make A Wish Foundation children’s charity is the Official Charity of the Lamma 500 and will be organizing activities during the event to raise funds for their activities. 

The Laracy & Company Lamma 500 will take place from 9am to 6pm on May 16th 2010 and will be followed by the popular Lamma 500 Beach Party.

Entry for spectators is free and refreshments are available at the beach.

I heard that the coldest beer in Hong Kong can be found at Tai Wan To Beach on Sunday so I’ll be taking the kids to Lamma this weekend.  Hope to see you there!

Here is some footage from last year’s Lamma 500:

(Additional picture from RoyalX Team)

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) can be broadly divided into 3 areas, of which these are are further divided in smaller geographic districts (in brackets):

Hong Kong Island (4 districts)

Kowloon (5 districts)

New Territories (9 districts)

Below is a navigable Google Map of the 3 broad areas of the Hong Kong SAR.  Like any other Google Map, you can use your mouse to scroll around the map. (Click on the links below to access the Google Map of Hong Kong)

Kowloon (Map below)
View Larger Map

Hong Kong Island (Map below)
View Larger Map

New Territories (Map below)
View Larger Map

During the Hong Kong leg of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia’s customary Media Day on Friday, I was fortunate to get my first-ever feel of an Extreme 40 racer courtesy of skipper Nick Moloney and his able BT crew.  For that reason it was expecially good to hear that BT took line honours in today’s Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC) Around the Island race.

BT snatched victory by just 14 seconds in the annual Around the Island Race in Hong Kong this morning, following a 27 nautical mile marathon. The six Extreme 40s battled their way around Hong Kong Island (the territory’s largest island) with every boat taking the lead at some point during the race. It was an amazing day for not only the sailors, but also the VIP guests onboard, who raced in the coveted ‘fifth man’ spot, including the Queen’s Grandson, Peter Phillips, onboard The Wave, Muscat.

The Wave, Muscat on Friday’s Media Day (Pic: Mike Jansen)

“We are totally pumped,” said BT Skipper Nick Moloney (AUS) just after they crossed the finish line just ahead of the home nation Extreme 40, China Team. “It all came down to the last 200 metres. We could see the new wind coming through and we knew that whoever gets the wind first will win. We thought China Team might catch it first, so we did panic a bit, but we edged into first place with the breeze and crossed the line first,” he grinned.

For Khamis Al Busaidi the bowman onboard Oman Sail’s Masirah, the Around the Island Race here in Hong Kong had particular resonance as he was onboard Masirah when they won Line Honours in the ‘other’ Round the Island Race around the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Speaking before they set off he spoke of his determination to top the podium. “I really want to win a second Around the Island title, it would be a great honour. The team is very strong and I know we have the knowledge and experience to do well, but it will all come down to the wind.”

Masirah (Oman) during Friday’s Media Day (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Unfortunately for Khamis and the crew onboard Masirah, it wasn’t to be a double first for them. Despite leading practically the whole way around the Island of Hong Kong, they ground to a halt in the final leg up the Lamma Channel.

 Skipper Pete Cumming explained:

“This race was so similar to the Round the Island Race in Cowes back in June. Plenty of wind at the start, with it dropping right off over the south side of the island. We had such a fantastic start and round the East side of the Island we did a horizon job, hammer down, 26 knots and off we flew. But the tough thing about being the lead boat is that you act as a weather station of the other Extreme 40s in the fleet. At one point we had a lead of over a mile and we thought we were home and dry, but we sailed into a hole and all the other boats saw where we were and kept away! Red Bull came down one side and Team China and BT the other and we knew that one or other team was going to take the lead from us and we couldn’t do anything. It was great to be involved, and always something amazing to look at on the shore. The guys on BT did well, but it doesn’t make it any the less frustrating!”

The Extreme 40 fleet left the start line in Victoria Harbour at 0940, the last of a fleet of over 200 boats to depart as they headed on the clockwise course around Hong Kong Island. The Extreme 40s passed within inches of their compettitors, squeezing through the smallest gaps to charge to the front of the fleet and lead the race. After leaving the Lei Yue Mun Gap, the 40 foot catamarans stretch their legs and flew hulls in the 16 knot breeze and glorious sunshine. But as the boats turned into the Southern leg, the wind dropped right off and they crawled past Stanley, often grinding to a halt as the winds dipped.

As the boats sailed into the final leg up Kowloon Harbour, they had to zigzag through the junks, traditional fishing boats and ferries heading to Macau, making the gusty breeze and choppy sea even harder to navigate as they approached the finish line.

Tan Wearn Haw, helmsman onboard China Team said:

“This was a real showcase for the Series and sailing itself here in Hong Kong and I think we are starting to build on the momentum and we are getting a lot of people watching the racing and seeing the power and the speed of these boats. It’s opened up the eyes of the people and the sponsors which is really interesting for everyone.  It’s great to race around the Island. Of course we are really disapointed that we didn’t win in the final stages, but it would be great to be back next year and not only win, but break the record!”

Racing onboard the Extreme 40s with the four professional crews were two ‘fifth men’, VIP guests sailing as part of the core crews.  The Queen’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips, Head of Group Sponsorship Asia Pacific for RBS said:

“That was a fantastic opportunity to get on board an Extreme 40. It was an awesome experience and great fun. Paul and his crew were superb and gave me one hell of a ride on The Wave. Its incredible to feel the speed over the water and when you’re flying along with one hull out of the water it’s exhilarating!”

Johnny Hodgson, who was onboard the winning boat BT agreed:

“That was fantastic, I’m really happy to have had the chance to race here. It’s great to have the Extreme 40s here in Hong Kong – we need to get them back next year!”

Provisional Results in the Around the Island Race 22 November 2009: (Boat, Finish Time)

BT, 13:05:12

China Team, 13:05:26

Oman Sail Masirah, 13:06:38

Rumbo Almeria, 13:07:50

Red Bull, 13:13:46

Muscat, The Wave, 13:16:06

The six Extreme 40s will be back to their shorter courses tomorrow, Monday 21 November in Victoria Harbour, racing from 2 – 5pm.