24 Hour Dinghy Race

On Saturday, the 23rd of May, 39 dinghies crossed a line between Sailability’s Mohan and the Hebe Haven Yacht Club’s South Dock for the start of the 24 Hour Charity Dinghy Race 2026. Sailors of all ages and abilities, and from different walks of life, tested their skills and endurance on a 1.2-kilometre course for a continuous 24 hours.

The event began at 0200 and continued until Sunday afternoon, 1400, and was blessed with southwesterly winds of 5-7 knots for much of the time. This allowed sailors to perform some great broad reaches – and challenging tacks – to record impressive scores for the numbers of laps completed.

Teams came from all over Hong Kong and included Sailability with its elite sailors, some of whom are world champions!

In the club’s boatyard, a ‘Race Village’ was set up with stalls selling chandlery, refreshments and handicrafts. A large marquee covered the stage area and this became the place where everyone gathered to listen to live music and shelter from the heat which, incidentally, reached a sweltering 34 degrees on both days!

During the peak entertainment period, 1900 to 2200 Saturday night, two well-known groups – Murphy and the Lawyers and Levelling Out played some great music.

Keeping everyone informed were the club’s very own Stu Pryke and David Lam who both provided a witty bi-lingual commentary over the weekend. Assorted acts took place around the fairground and disk jockey, Doug French, kept everyone in the groove with his cool music and cheerful Aussie vernacular.

Unseen by many, the club boat Hebe One was moored at the end of South Dock and from here the lap-counting team maintained an ‘over-watch’ of the whole event. It was also the centre for some great culinary creations prepared by Lizzie Sharp which she served to race officials when not counting laps.

The 24 Hour Charity Dinghy Race is an annual sailing and social event which has been held at the Hebe Haven Yacht Club since 2002 (https://www.fragrantharbour.com/Flip%20PDF/200/200.html#p=93). It’s a relay-style race in dinghies and involves a crew of one or two sailors who sail around a rectangular course inside the Pak Sha Wan anchorage. The intention is to raise funds for local children’s charities and community groups.

Since its inception, the two-day event has expanded in size and raised over HK$13.4 million for organisations such as the Children’s Cancer Foundation, Sailability HK, TREATS, IDEAL and the Sai Kung District Community Centre. In 2002, 16 boats took part. In recent years, fleet numbers have been in the high 30s.

The whole event is managed by volunteers with a great deal of site preparation carried out by the staff of the club. Event sponsors were Knight Frank, Linnovate, Carlsberg, Boncafe, Piercey Marine, Liberty and Diving Space.

List of Participating Teams

Event Results