Volvo Ocean Race First In-port Race Featuring Hong Kong’s Scallywag

The first official racing of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race takes place on the 14 October with the first In-Port race in the start port of Alicante.

Who will win the first points scoring event of the race? The start gun is at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) as seven of the best sailing teams in the world push hard to lay down a marker ahead of the main race start.

“You always go out and want to win,” said Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Team Brunel, who will have Alberto (Albi) Bolzan on the helm for the race. “He’s an excellent helmsman. He has a lot of hours driving these boats but he’s also one of the smaller guys on board and it’s important to have power on the winches for these in-port races.”

“I think the most important thing for the in-port race is to treat it as practice for the race start for the offshore leg,” said Charles Caudrelier, speaking from experience after starting behind the fleet on the Prologue leg. “Even on the long legs, the start is important… it helps the team to be confident to get the lead early.”

“A lot of the sailors on our team come from short course racing,” said Dee Caffari the skipper on Turn the Tide on Plastic. “So they get a real buzz out of this. They’re all over this style of racing. I have to remind them that a Volvo Ocean 65 takes a bit longer to manoeuvre and we can’t go as close to the other boats as they’re used to, so I have to manage expectations a bit!”

The In-Port Race Alicante is two laps of a windward-leeward course, set with a target time of 45-minutes. The course is set up with a gate system, with two top (windward) marks and two bottom (leeward) marks.

In Friday’s practice session, MAPFRE took the win over Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, who impressed with their best showing, and Vestas 11th Hour Racing, who took third place, completing the podium.

Additional reporting and images: Volvo Ocean Race

Hong Kong Beat Nepal by 83 Runs in First ODI

Hong Kong bowlers Aizaz Khan and Ehsan Khan ran through Nepal’s batting order to thrash them by 83 runs in the first ODI as part of the World Cricket League Championships in Mong Kok. The duo shared eight wickets between them as offspinner Ehsan finished with his List A career-best figures of 5 for 17.

 

Hong Kong, put in to bat first, lost their opener Anshuman Rath for a duck in the fourth over. At the other end Jamie Atkinson was more successful, carrying his team past 100 even despite regular blows. His lone hand was not enough to carry them past 200 though; Hong Kong slipped from 3 for 108 to 194 all out, with Atkinson top-scoring with his 76.

In their chase, Nepal lost wickets regularly as medium-pacer Aizaz dismissed three of the top-four batsmen, while Ehsan worked through the rest, dismantling Nepal for 111.

Additional reporting: cricinfo

Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 14 October, 2017

Teams Confirmed For Hong Kong World Sixes

The list of nations competing in the Hong Kong World Sixes has been finalised with Pakistan and New Zealand Kiwis announced as the teams joining hosts Hong Kong, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at the KCC on 28-29 October.

Pakistan are three-time winners of the competition, while the New Zealand Kiwis will be a select team captained by Peter Fulton and include a number of recently retired stars from the Black Caps.

“We’re really pleased to have teams competing from seven full [test] members,” CHK Director Jonathan Cummings said. “Delighted to have Pakistan returning to the tournament – they’ve always been traditionally very strong at the Sixes format and provide great entertainment.”

“The New Zealand Kiwis have got some great names coming which will soon be announced and they’ll be a force as well. The quality of the cricket is going to fantastic and it’s all shaping as a great event.”

HK Cricket Sixes
Date: 28-29 October, 2017
Venue: Kowloon Cricket Club
Tickets: $2,400, $1,300, $1,000, $700, $600, $350 from Ticketflap

Fiji National Day Lovo @ Tai Po – 8 October, 2017

The Fijian Chamber of Commerce hosted a traditional lovo feast to celebrate Fiji National Day and commemorate independence. Traditional dancing, songs and cava accompanied the lovo.
A lovo is an underground oven where meat, fish and vegetables are wrapped in leaves and placed atop hot coals/stones and left to slow cook for several hours.
Click on any photo for the full gallery

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Fiji-National-Day-Lovo-Tai-Po-8-October-2017/i-Jjh8DCt

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Fiji-National-Day-Lovo-Tai-Po-8-October-2017/i-474CfXn

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Fiji-National-Day-Lovo-Tai-Po-8-October-2017/i-dj3g9Nz

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Fiji-National-Day-Lovo-Tai-Po-8-October-2017/i-k5CMdRd

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Fiji-National-Day-Lovo-Tai-Po-8-October-2017/i-NkXz8tZ

Volvo Ocean Race Prologue Offers Final Tune-up Ahead of Start

The seven Volvo Ocean Race skippers will have a final oppourtunity to tune their boats on the Prologue Leg, a non-scoring race to the start port of Alicante, Spain. It’s a last chance for teams to lock in crew configurations and get in some speed testing against the competition ahead of the start of Leg 1 on October 22.

“This is the last opportunity for all of the boats to face each other before we start,” says Mark Towill of Vestas 11th Hour Racing. “We’ll be lining up against the other teams to check the things we’ve learned during testing compared to the rest of the fleet.”

Towill and his team have been training against team AkzoNobel. The Dutch team’s Luke Molloy spoke of the benefit from the sessions.

“The two boat training sessions we did with Vestas 11th Hour Racing were definitely very valuable and actually quite eye opening in a few areas,” he confirms. “Just to check on some of our sail crossovers and lock down what we think we know in some other performance areas.”

Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari says she’ll be giving some of her crew who have less offshore miles time on board during the Prologue, as her team makes the transition from training to competition.

“It’s an opportunity to get back into race mode,” she says. “It’s almost a practice of Leg 1, because we’re going from Lisbon to Alicante and that’s going to be the reverse for Leg 1 so it’s nice to suss it out.”

Leg Zero,SHK Onboard,. Video by Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race. 21July,2017..Onboard sailing action

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, disappointed with its results this summer during Leg Zero, will be racing with some new crew members and navigator Steve Hayles says the team will be looking to bed in improvements made during practice over the past month.

“I think (on Leg Zero) everything was sub-par, so this is a good chance to put into effect everything we’ve been doing since. We’ve been sailing hard, we’ve done at least as many miles as anyone else, and so this is a good opportunity to cement those changes. Nothing is as good a measure of where you stand as going racing and hopefully we’ve made a big step up in our team performance.”

Rob Greenhalgh, about to embark with the Spanish team MAPFRE on his fifth Volvo Ocean Race, is looking forward to this final look at the opposition.

“It’s pretty important. Everyone’s going to be keen to check in,” he says. “We’ll be keen to race properly… we won’t be backed off. We’ll be going for it!”

Dongfeng Racing team director Bruno Dubois will see his team leave the dock in Lisbon satisfied they have done what they need to do to be ready to race by the start of Leg 1.

“My objective was to make sure we put everything in place and didn’t leave anything to chance,” Dubois explains. “We made a plan and we’ve stayed to it. Maybe someone is going to head out in Leg 1 and be very fast, but we’ve done what we needed to do to make our boat ready and fast for the start of the race. After that, well, it’s a long race.”

Dongfeng Race Team goes sailing in their re-fitted Volvo Ocean 65 as they begin training for the 2017-18 edition.

The weather forecast offers a mixed bag that will get the wrinkles out of all the new sails the teams have installed in Lisbon. The boats will race upwind through the Gibraltar Straight early on Tuesday morning against the infamous Levanter easterly wind that could accelerate to over 30kts, all while penned in by a narrow coast, heavy shipping exclusion zones and coastal fishing nets. Forced into a 1.5-mile wide channel, skippers will be balancing the desire to push for a good result in their last warm-up versus the need to protect new sails that need to last 45,000 miles around the world.

Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Team Brunel, was very candid about placing a priority on protecting his equipment.

“It’s about finding that balance between pushing the boat, getting it ready, and putting the least amount of hours on the new sails,” he says. “If there is a lot of wind, we’ll want to save our sails… that’s just what we have to do.”

After the Straights, the fleet will continue upwind through the Alboran Sea along the south Spanish coast in an uncomfortable sea state created by fresh easterlies running over the permanent eastwards current created by the Atlantic flowing into the Mediterranean. Turning northwards by Cabo de Gata, the wind is expected to drop to just 5 knots from the east, pushing the homecoming in the Alicante race village deep into Wednesday evening.

“We heard all the stories about how the Race Village in Alicante is nearly ready and everyone is waiting for us to arrive,” Caffari says. “And I know from the moment we arrive, the circus begins and it is pretty much non-stop. The time will fly by and we’ll be crossing that start line and heading away from Alicante for Leg 1 in no time.”

Follow the prologue at www.volvooceanrace.com.

Images: Benoit Stichelbaut/Dongfeng Race Team; Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race

Gai Wu Falcons 27-10 City Sparkle @ Happy Valley – 7 October, 2017

Gai Wu Falcons beat City Sparkle comfortably 27-10 at Happy Valley Recreation ground. In hot but breezy conditions the game got off to a flying start when Gai Wu won a penalty within the first two minutes. Kicking for territory and winning the line out, an inside pass to Chan Lap Ting had spectators thinking Falcon’s could take the lead early. Sparkle defended well and a Gai Wu infringement saw City win a scrum on their five-metre line, allowing them to kick the ball clear.

The first 20 minutes had little to separate the teams with Falcons retaining slightly more possession. Sparkle briefly looked to go on the attack but Falcons won a penalty for City not releasing the ball. Kicking for territory they pushed Sparkle back onto their 22. Sparkle defended well but when Cheng Man King went to clear the ball it was intercepted by flanker Ching Tsz Yung in who charged through and over the try line to put Falcons ahead 5-0.

Bolstered by the confidence of a score Gai Wu needed just eight minutes to add to their total. This time, flanker Tsz Yung with an inside pass to outside centre Chiu Wing Sze who finished easily.

The Sparkle backline lost Tse Kar Man for 10 minutes courtesy of a yellow card for deliberate offside. Taking advantage of a weakened defence Gai Wu stretched Sparkle across the field. A wide pass from prop Lau Nga Wu to Lo Pui Shan on the left wing allowed her to score Gai Wu’s third try – 15-0 to the Falcons at half-time.

Gai Wu continued their dominance in the second half, Lock Chow Mei Nam needing just five minutes to scored the Falcon’s fourth try converted by fullback Lau Sze Wa.

Fine play by fly half Chui Kam Chi culminated with an inside pass to release Lau who almost outran the entire City defence before offloading a short pass to flanker Yip Hiu Ki, running hard in support, to added another five points to the score, 27-0.

Falcons looked on their way to a rout keeping City pinned in their half until Sparkles’ Cheng Man King turned the ball over on the Gai Wu 5 meter line and ran almost the full length of the field for a lovely try.

City attempted to fight back late in the second half and kept Gai Wu deep in their own half forcing the home team to defend their lead for the rest of the match. A quick inside flick from Sparkle’s Ng Yuk Yon to Tse Wing Kiu saw City add a second try for a final score of 27-10

Gai Wu Falcons: 1. Lau Nga Wun 劉雅緩; 2. Pun Wai Yan 潘慧欣; 3. Lee Ka Shun 李嘉萱; 4. Wong Ka Yin 黃家妍; 5. Chow Mei Nam 鄒美楠; 6. Ching Tsz Yung 程子容; 7. Yip Hiu Ki 葉曉琪; 8. Chan Ka Yan 陳嘉欣; 9. Lai Pui Shan 黎珮珊; 10. Chui Kam Chi 徐金枝; 11. Lo Pui Shan 羅佩珊; 12. Ho Hoi Lam 何凱琳; 13. Chiu Wing See 趙穎思; 14. Lum Ka Ching 藍嘉晴; 15. Lau Sze Wa 劉絲樺;
Reserve: 16. Lam Ka Wai 林嘉慧; 17. Lee Wing Yan 李穎欣; 18. Ng Ki Sum 吳其芯; 19. Man Yuen Yan 文琬茵; 20. Man Po Kei 文寶琪; 21. Fung Hoi Ching 馮凱晴; 22. Chan Wan Sum 陳韻心; 23. Chan Lap Ting 陳立婷

Valley Black 58-0 CWB Phoenix @ So Kon Po – 7 October, 2017

Valley Black soundly beat a solid and competitive CWB Phoenix 58-0 at So Kon Po. However it wasn’t until Valley unleashed their returning HK International Sevens players in the last quarter that the scoreboard started to bloat. Until then CWB, while never really looking likely to score or spend extend periods in the Valley 22, had contained and frustrated a repeatedly penalized Valley side.

CWB Phoenix are young side building a solid team, they work hard together and defend well as a unit. CWB’s lineout was working well and they’d obviously decided pre-match to sit back and defend along their 22.

Valley won the first scrum against the head in the centre of the pitch and a sweeping backline move launched by a barnstorming run from the base of the scrum by Aroha Savage saw left winger Nadia Cuvilier touch down for the first try of the game on 10 minutes. Zoe Smith converted Valley 7-0.

Valley’s backs when the get it together are a beautiful attacking force, but too often passes went astray or runners chose the wrong option and CWB were able to defend quite comfortably – even if they never crossed the halfway line. The Phoenix back line looked to change that on the quarter hour and break forward only for a forward pass to gift the ball to Valley who broke quickly.

A crunching try saving tackle on the right wing by CWB’s Wong Sze Man only delayed the inevitable as Valley swung the ball the width of the pitch and Savage finished off the move started by Stephanie Cuvelier, 12-0 after 18 minutes.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Valley-Black-v-CWB-Phoenix-So-Kon-Po-7-October-2017/i-BTjCRKZ

The Phoenix finally emerged from their own half and looked to test the Valley defence as Ka Ling Martini Ip broke into the Valley 22. A strong run by Tsang Siu Ching through the heart of the Valley pack saw CWB almost to the try line only for the Black to steal the ball and kick it clear. Chasing the kick down Valley winger Smith wasted a three on one overlap by cutting inside only to run straight into Sin Man Ng whose solid tackle saved a certain try.

Valley’s player-coach Bella Milo is obviously getting a little frustrated by her teammates profligacy with the ball and with a lovely side step bursts through to score Valley third try on 30 minutes, 17-0.

Aroaha Savage show all her World Cup winning Black Fern style as she powered and danced through the Phoenix defence to touch down under the posts on the 35 minutes for her second try of the game. Smith converts 24-0 to Valley.

Valley press hard for another score before halftime, forcing CWB back over their own goal line to give the Black an attacking 5m scrum infront of the posts. Superb work from the Phoenix pack sees them win the ball against the head with Kwok ‘Dira’ Yuk Lin leading the breakout with a strong run as they fly up the pitch. Lock Chan Yan Yi breaks clean though Valley’s backline but a lack of support denies CWB their first points as she hasn’t the legs to outrun the chasing defenders.

The 24-0 half-time score is a little misleading, while Valley are deservedly ahead they’re not playing well and are giving away a lot of penalties in the ruck. CWB don’t look as though they have the weapons to open up Valley, but for the most part look comfortable in defence, playing well together and defending as a team.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Valley-Black-v-CWB-Phoenix-So-Kon-Po-7-October-2017/i-b4KFNdC

CWB working hard at the breakdown and Valley give away another penalty. CWB’s kick to touch misses and Valley look to profit, Lin though wins the ball back and again breaks through the Valley line to put the Blacks on the back foot.

Milo though is having none of it, bursting through the CWB pack on the halfway line and just has the legs to place the ball under the posts for Valley’s first points in 20 minutes, Smith converts 29-0.

Another strong run by Lin, who’s having a fine game is stopped by a solid tackle. Valley’s depth starts to show, a strong run down the wing by substitute Jessica Eden who passes inside for Stephanie Cuvelier to score her first and the Black’s sixth try. Smith converts again, 36-0 after 62 minutes.

Phoenix have no answer to Valley’s pacey HK Sevens players and a minute later a strong run from Amelie Seure sets up Riva Brill to score with almost her first touch of ball, 41-0. Three minutes later it’s Kelsie Bouttle putting her pace and recent World Cup experience to good use to set up Rebecca Thompson for try number eight, 46-0 after 66 minutes.

CWB rally well after conceding the three quick tries but fatigue is pulling at the legs of the Phoenix players and only some resolute last ditch tackling is keeping Valley from scoring. A poor pass though sees Bouttle pounce for a simple try under the posts which Milo converts 53-0 on 73 minutes.

A strong team effort from CWB, but the Phoenix’s flames are finally extinguished when a massive 7 on 1 overlap sees Eden score her second as time expires – final score 58-0.

Valley Black:
KK Wong, Li Lai Mang Becky, Ching To Cheng, Deena Ravi Thinakaran, Karen So, Suzanne Sittko, Laurel Chor, Aroha Savage, Bella Milo, Stephanie Cuvelier, Nadia Cuvilier, Tanya Young, Caitlin Spencer, Rebecca Thompson, Zoë Smith
Reserves: Riva Brill, Wing Yan Leung, Amelie Seure, Jade Birkby, Jessica Eden, Kelsie Bouttle, Shan Shan Sandra Pong
Tries: Bella Milo (2), Nadia Cuvilier, Aroha Savage (2), Stephanie Cuvelier, Riva Brill, Rebecca Thompson, Jessica Eden, Kelsie Bouttle
Conversions: Zoe Smith 3, Bella Milo

CWB Phoenix: 
Tsang Siu Ching,Tin Yan, Dora Chim, Chin Po Po, Chan Yan Yi, Hau Yan, Tina Ho, Kong ‘Koko’ Yin Ting, Tsang Ching Man, Sin Man Ng, Au To, Kwok ‘Dira’ Yuk Lin, Chan Po Tung, Ka Ling Martini Ip, Liu Kit Ying, Wong Sze Man, See Wai June Au
Reserves: Kwan Ki Chan, Wong Man Yan, Lam Ka Wai, Li Man Yi, Mo Tsz Ching, Suet Ying Lo, Wing Chi Jenny Wong

法興銀行華利女子欖球會 (Valley Black)今日在掃捍埔球場大敗SCAA第一太平銅鑼灣鳳凰欖球會(鳳凰)。雖然成績如此,但華利是在最後15分鐘才陸續入球的,而鳳凰隊雖然沒有得分,但他們的壓迫進攻令華利多次犯規。

鳳凰隊多是年輕球員,但他們有很好的團結性,令他們的防守非常一致。從比賽中可以看到鳳凰隊的戰術是在22米線努力防守。

開場十分鐘,華利在中場爭球成功,由Aroha Savage傳給左邊邊鋒球員Nadia Cuvilier達陣,再由Zoe Smith 踢入,華利7比0。

華利的9號至15號經常做出漂亮的攻擊,可惜太多失誤的傳球和後援的錯誤判斷,令鳳凰隊的防守非常輕鬆。在比賽二十分鐘左右,鳳凰隊大力進攻,可惜傳球失誤,華利奪回控球權。本來鳳凰隊的11號球員Wong Sze Man可以攔截Savage的入球,可惜Stephanie Cuvelier在分毫間打球傳了出去,12比0。

鳳凰隊測試自己的實力,由Ka Ling Martini攻入華利的22米線。Tsang Siu Ching的一個勁跑,達陣線就在眼前。可惜華利偷波成功,把球踢出,解除威脅。

華利的球員兼教練Bella Milo顯然對球員的表現不太滿意,他用漂亮的腳法在三十分鐘為球隊取得第三個達陣,17比0。

在35分鐘,Aroaha Savage充分表現出他在為紐西蘭國家隊打世界盃的姿態,力量和步法,令鳳凰隊難以防守,再一次入球, 24比0。

在上半場完場前,華利繼續猛攻,但Kwok “Dira” Yuk Lin 和Chan Yan Yi的強勁防守,本可為鳳凰隊取得分數,可惜步伐還是不及華利的快。