FIS participated in the Hebe Haven 24 Hour Charity Dinghy Race 2023

On the 14th and 15th of October, 28 students from FIS participated in the Hebe Haven 24 Hour Charity Dinghy Race 2023 held at the Hebe Haven Yacht Club in Sai Kung. The students were from both the French and International streams, were between 8 to 16 years old and came from three campuses – BPR, TKO, JL.

As the name suggests, the event is a 24 hour race and the participants sailed from 12.00 noon on Saturday and finished at 12.00 noon on Sunday, with each team aiming to complete the maximum number of laps during this time. 35 boats participated in total.

Typically teams of two students rotated in two hour shifts during the 24 hours. We chose this solution to give some of the younger sailors a chance to experience night sailing for the first time (can be impressive, but is generally very slow as the wind dies down) as well as taking turns to keep the boat moving during the entire 24 hours. The French School team had two light dinghy boats: a RS Feva and a Laser Pico. The conditions were quite light during the entire 24 hours despite the forecast predicting strong wind during the night. We also set the shift crews to have less and more experienced sailors together on the boats.

The charities supported by the organisers include the Children’s Cancer Foundation and Sailability (giving disabled people access to the sports sailing). In total FIS raised over $16,000 and got three podiums after a fierce battle against the Hebe Haven YC Dragons, HK Academy, HKIS, KGV as well as adult teams.

FIS came first in the School team division as both boats were the First school team in their respective classes. The team also finished First in the Laser Pico division, a full ten laps ahead of the runner up, and third in the RS Feva division. FIS has finished as the first school since 2019 – ie, 4 years running! In total FIS completed 106 laps in both divisions. (The final number will also include extra laps according to donation levels). The results will be confirmed at the cheque presentation a month after the event.

We would like to thank M. Bonin who came to the event to support us and all the parents who helped the team through the 24 hours, George Papadopoulos for the photos, as well as all the sailors that helped bring us these results and represent the school: Claudia S. (Y7), Alex S. (Y7), Sophie A. (CE2), Oscar B. (4e), Maxence B. (2nde), Aimeri C. (2nde), Lucie C. (5e), Augustin C. (4e), Côme C. (CE2), Maxime C. (6e), Constantin C. (Y7), Cordelia D. (5e), Alexis D.(2nde), Kamal I. (Y7), Alexandra L. (Y5), Tiffany M. (Y12), Ethan P. (CE2), Isabelle P. (6e), Simon P. (3e), Stella P. (3e), Gabin P. (4e), Arthur S. (4e), Abel S. (6e), Sienne T. (4e), Valentina T. (6e), Evaristo T. (CE2) and Jade Z. (Y9). We also thank the donors who enabled our charity fundraising.

Of additional interest: some FIS parents (17 adults) also entered a team boat in the event. Its tenacious racing result showed some potential for the future.
You can contact us at fissailing@gmail.com and follow our journey on our FIS Sailing Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/FISSailing/, photos are also uploaded to our Facebook page.