PHOTOS: Hong Kong Nations’ Cup

The 2014 Hong Kong Nations’ Cup race on March 8 out of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in Causeway Bay. Any keelboat with an RHKATI handicap can enter, but the unique feature is that everybody on board an individual boat must be of the same nationality – born, passport, fluent.

You don’t have to be a member of the RHKYC – or ANY club in HK for that matter. Heck, you don’t even have to live here. Fly in Ben Ainslie if you want! A big fun day out, not too serious – fabulous opportunities for song, costume, and native customs.

NATIONALITY CRITERIA
100% of crew members must be nationals of the country which is represented by the boat they are racing on.

During his/her lifetime, a sailor may only ever represent one country in the Race – you should sail for the country to which you have the strongest allegiance.

All applications or disputes relating to the determination of the country which a sailor may represent in the Race shall be resolved very quickly by a committee of at least 2 people who are either members of Sail Com or are Flag Officers of the club.

A sailor who could qualify as a national of two or more countries at the same time may represent either one of them, as he/she may elect. But that choice is final (see 4.2)

A sailor qualifies as a national of a country if ANY of the following apply:

•     The sailor was born in that country
•     The sailor holds a valid passport of that country
•     The sailor has the right of abode in that country (for clarity, HK requires a Permanent HKID Card
•     The sailor has been normally resident in that country for at least 10 years at some stage in their life (for clarity, the 10 years need not be continuous)
•     The sailor has represented that country at a major international event, for example the Olympics, the Rugby World Cup, the United Nations, or the Miss Universe pageant
•     The sailor fluently speaks the language of that country
•     The sailor can sing the national anthem of that country (in the native tongue)

Photos: RHKYC/ Guy Nowell