The Dragons Fly
It’s been a great effort by the Hobie Factory Team to get the boats organized and ready and today the red dragon sails will be raised for the first time on the beach in Dapeng, Shenzhen, China as Hobie® sailors in the Masters Class compete in the first series of races in the 2016 Hobie 16 World Championship regatta.
After an impressive Opening Ceremony last night at the event resort hotel, sailors are waking up this morning to a day they have looked forward to since the last Worlds held in Jervis Bay, Australia back in February 2014.
The early monsoonal weather that has seen a lot of rain over many parts of China over the past few days doesn’t appear to be affecting the region this morning and a gold and orange Asian sky has greeted those already beginning their day. It will be mostly cloudy today with bursts of sunshine breaking through.
The combination of heat and very high humidity will create fairly tough conditions on the beach with a top temperature expected to reach 320C (900F). However, it is predicted to feel more like 430C (1090F) in the muggy atmosphere. Along with the heat and high humidity there is a 24% chance of thunderstorms at sometime during the day.
While there isn’t, the stronger winds of the past few days there are 6kts of breeze on the bay at the moment coming in offshore from the SSW with expected gusts to blow up to 12kts.
Good luck and fair sailing to all skippers and their crew competing in the World Championships today.