Macau Race and History

"In the early days, there were no marinas and it was necessary to moor in the Macau Marine Police basin (right), just near the Ah Ma Temple, and enjoy the sweet smell of the close-by abattoir. Over 20 years ago now, in 1996, we moved from the Macau Police basin to the comparative luxury of tying up to pontoons in the then, lately-completed, Clube Nautico de Macau. We all enjoyed the convenience of electricity and water provided and the arrival on-shore parties, and found the Clube Nautico to be great hosts, even when the COA upgraded to have three COA Macau Races per year.

But, as time passed, our members’ boats got bigger, with deeper drafts, and it became necessary to use the Government basin nearby, to accommodate all who wished to make the voyage. Thus, we moved on to the next chapter a few years ago, and arranged for members joining the COA Macau Race to moor in the newly-completed Fisherman’s Wharf, just inside the bridge in Macau. What could have been a long-term arrangement was sadly cut short by the series of serious typhoons and the damaged caused to the pontoons in Fisherman’s Wharf and, therefore, last year we were restricted to just the 50th Anniversary Race at Chinese New Year. Of course, what then? Fortunately, with their new clubhouse underway (above), Clube Nautico de Macau extended an invitation to the COA to be joint hosts of the COA SAR Day Macau Race 2018, and the COA accepted happily, but had to manage a fleet of only 18 boats, as Clube Nautico had restrictions in the number of boats that they could fit into their pontoons.

So, COA members became the first visitors to what is going to become a splendid new club, even before it is completed, although we are looking forward to an extended invitation for future events. 

Thus, it was on a recent Wednesday evening that we all visited the Merchant Service Club in Sheung Wan to enjoy the COA SAR Day Macau Race 2018 prizegiving, and what a great evening! Firstly, we were invited to consider a potential future event, with a presentation by Jerry Ye (above), the executive vice general manager of the Shenzhen Bay Marina Club, who invited the COA to extend its range of activities and to spend a weekend at the Marina in the near future. 

The COA and the Shenzhen Bay Marina Club are working on arrangements in order to make the event seamless and, as part of that, they introduced Philip Wen who is the chairman of the China / Macau / Hong Kong Marine Committee to promote sailing between all three ports. It is hoped that this co-operation will lead quickly to putting in place the official requirements and then to a new event in the COA calendar.

As for the prizegiving part of the evening, all of the results are on www.COAHK.org web site as usual, but suffice to say that of the 30 prizes on offer for the races, nine boats were the proud recipients, drawn from the 18 boats that entered the COA SAR Day Macau Race 2018 (above right) jointly held with Clube Nautico de Macau. 

A great time was had by all, especially with the flow of beer and the exceptionally tasty food supplied by the Merchant Service Club. For future Macau Races, we will have more choices of berthing arrangements. Watch out for the news of the next Macau Race and don’t forget to apply early

"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wknpM_y0dPGeDXFhH4PAM6OQqoKewnRn