More info from the Aberdeen Boat Club about the Four Peaks Race last weekend, Jan 26/27. Runners were racing to the top of Mt Stenhouse from their sailboats and back, continuing to ascend 3 more, taller hills around HK:
Best time amongst the 20 teams this year:
an incredible, insane 53 minutes... and it was wet and raining!
http://www.abclubhk.com/race/FP2013/results/FP2013_MtStenhouse.pdf
"The first boats are likely to arrive at Lamma in the late afternoon/early evening on Saturday. They may drop runners at Lo So Shing, or on the south coast, and pick up on the south coast, Mo Tat Wan or Sok Kwu Wan. Boats are often widely spread apart and the last to arrive may not be there till daylight on Sunday morning, but where they land runners and pick them up is difficult to predict. The time they arrive is also hard to predict. They check in with volunteer peak controllers at the top.
The time of 52 minutes was recorded by a boat's crew. It included not only the running time to the trig point on Mt Stenhouse and down again, but also the time for the runners to get ashore by kayak or dinghy and back aboard the boat after the run. Those runners that took the shortest viable route we know of, from a rocky bay on the south coast, the same one as the video refers to.
The year before I did the same route with others in about 1hr 10 minutes. Crews regularly do the route in this kind of time. This year the path is comparatively clear. We checked it last Saturday. Some years it is terrible...and we often do it in the dark! The last boats to do the peak this year may not be there till Sunday morning. It all depends on the wind."
More photos and Lamma-zine story coming up...
Press release:
The Aberdeen Boat Club hosted the annual Four Peaks Race last weekend, Saturday and Sunday 26-27 January. 176 crews, ages between 14 to 68 years old took part on 23 boats with the support of 77 volunteers.
“Kayaking, running, sailing. It’s a 24-hour triathlon and a box in my list of sport priorities that I had to tick”, said a visiting competitor based on the mainland.
The boats sailed around Hong Kong’s islands, all day Saturday morning and on through the night. Crew paddled kayaks and dinghies – no engines allowed – to beaches, jetties and rocky bays. They ran up Hong Kong’s peaks and checked in with teams of scouts and Hong Kong Sea School students who were volunteer stewards. Then back to the boats, sometimes by different trails because their boats had been sailing while they were climbing to gain a tactical advantage. The rules are complex and good strategy is essential.
It’s a race that offers everything. At 10am on Saturday there was lovely sunshine and wind. The evening brought calms and fickle gusts. It even rained for a while. But one young lady, part of the volunteer team of scouts on Violet Hill said, “I had a great time…and I only got a little bit wet!”
The police monitor the race and call the control room regularly to check on progress, right up till the last boat crossed the finish line end, at 6pm on Sunday night. Careful precautions are made to ensure safety as far as possible. Getting off a sailing boat and into a kayak at midnight off a rocky shore in January is not easy, but this race, run since 1985, is for everyone who loves something a bit different that involves challenge, camaraderie, sportsmanship, and endurance.
A newcomer to the event in his late 20s said after the event, “I think this was a wonderful race. It's a while since I've participated in sports and I enjoyed myself this much. Everything hurts in a happy sort of way!”
A veteran participant commented, “Taking part is unforgettable. The race is unique. There is nothing quite like it anywhere in the world.”
Results
Division A: 1st: Wicked - 2nd: Kei Lun - 3rd: Red Kite II
Division B: 1st: No One Else - 2nd: Javelin - 3rd: GA
Prize giving with photo display is 7pm Friday 1 February at Aberdeen Boat Club.
Visit www for details:
http://www.abclubhk.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=77
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