The fierce battle for Line Honours in the Rolex China Sea Race between defending Line Honours winner Standard Insurance Centennial V and Happy Go was finally settled in the early hours of the morning today when Happy Go edged out her rival by five minutes.
It was as nail-biting a finish, and close, competitive racing. Happy Go edged into the lead at at around 03.15h, and finally at 05h 20m 53s, Nie Hua’s Happy Go crossed the finish line to claim Line Honours, shaving more than 20 hours off their elapsed time from 2023.
With the Line Honours settled, and as the rest of the fleet converges on Subic Bay, all eyes are on who will take IRC Overall. A thrilling battle is developing for the IRC Overall leaderboard with boats swapping positions often. Seawolf, Zesst, A Plastic Ocean and Whiskey Jack have everything to play for. Happy Go is currently sitting at the top in IRC overall but will have to wait it out to see whether the other boats still racing can beat her time in the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club‘s 565 nautical mile race. The last time a boat won Line Honours and IRC Overall was Neil Pryde on HiFi in 2010.
