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With 91 boats of such varying sizes and speeds racing around the same course, there have been a few collisions and many protests in the evening. Although some teams are fairly new to the sport, head of the international jury, Bernard Bonneau, says they have to apply the Racing Rules of Sailing the same way in all instances, regardless of the experience of the sailors involved. For some, this is a harsh learning experience in the protest room, but it is all part of an event that has grown from nowhere to a significant international regatta in just five years.

For all the dramas of today, the majority of competitors enjoyed stunning sailing conditions. Frank Pong’s 75-footer Jelik hit a peak speed of 22 knots in 20 knots of wind, and the crew were grinning from ear to ear as they came ashore for a beer. But it was their chief rivals in IRC1, Jamie McWilliam’s Kerr 40 Peninsula Signal 8, that scored the better day with a 2,1, and they are now just a point behind Jelik in the overall standings.

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In the most competitive division, the 30-boat Beneteau 40.7 fleet, Jono Rankine’s Vatti Sailing is expected to do well, with Olympic medallists and world champions packing out the back of the boat. Vatti overcame a broken halyard to win that race along with the windward/leeward race earlier in the day.

So in the Beneteaus, Rankine’s team are lying in 1st overall ahead of Rick Pointon’s Beijing Sailing Center. The round-the-world legend Michel Desjoyeaux, Helming Beneteau China – TBS, moves into 4th overall, thanks in part to winning a request for redress from the opening Passage Race on Friday.

For the concluding racing on Monday, the 91 boats compete in one windward/leeward heat and an Audi Round the Island Race, with the Final Prizegiving and Closing Ceremony in the evening.