MIDDLEBURGH: Middleburgh Wet Work

Middleburgh Wet Work

Sitting comfortably with a beer ?? OK I am done with balls, whacking, and rides (sort of) - OH LOOK!! - HK is surrounded by water ....

Sailing

You like playing in boats, you are a member of either the

and you wish to get a sail in HK but unfortunately you forgot to pack your yacht and you left your Bayliner in the bath: You should check out opportunities through the HK Sailing Federation whose membership consists of individuals, associations, clubs and marinas.The premium clubs where you might be able to beg a sail as a crew are:

HK Royal Yacht Club which has overseas/visitor memberships and offers reciprical rights.
Hebe Haven Yacht Club also has temporary membership; and is always happy to offer reciprocal rights with similar yacht clubs.
Aberdeeen Boat Club Just read their magazine
HK Hobe Yacht Club The BDO Hobie Asian Championships 2009 will be held in Hong Kong, Friday October 2nd to Sunday October 4th. Class racing will take place in Hobie 16s and Hobie Tigers, with sailors competing for the coveted titles of Hobie 16 Asian Champion 2009 and Hobie Tiger Asian Champion 2009. (Personally my sort of people - the banner above is lifted from their site!!!)

There is an an interesting article which summarises the rules concerning boat licences and sailing permits etc required or not for HK.

Wind Surfing

HK has a history in wind surfurfing as a result of Lee Lai Shan who grew up in a small fishing village on the Hong Kong island of Cheung Chau where her Uncle, Lai Kan, owned a sailing shop.

She competed in her first Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona, where she placed 11th and four years later she won the Gold in Atlanta, becoming Hong Kong's first-ever Olympic medalist. So if you are a windsurfer you should consider finding out about the local scene through the HK Windsurfing Org. or if you don't windsurf but would like to you might be interested in one of these windsurf courses.A visit to the Windurf centre in Cheung Chau is highly recommended.

Surfing

Probably the best beach to surf in HK (ie catch biggish waves as opposed to using the wind) is the kilometre-long Tai Long Wan (Big Wave) beach in the Sai Kung country park. Unfortunately it is only accessable by helicopter, boat or a rocky 45-minute trek from the nearest road. (or one hour from Chek Keng ?).

It was the venue for the 3rd Rip Curl Cup in HK in 2006 and the X Game Hong Kong Surf Cup 2008. There are actually 4 Big Wave Beaches/Bay's in HK, Two are on Lantau Island (West of Shek Pik and South coast of Chi Ma Wan Peninsula), the one on the Sai Kung Peninsula, and the other on the east coast of Hong Kong Island where the annual HK surfing tournament in December, the Quiksilver Hong Kong Surfing Cup apparently draws ever larger crowds. Rumour as it you can rent boards there . NB The whereabouts of the Hong Kong Surfing Association (HKSA) remains a mystery.

Water Skiing & Wakeboarding

We treat waters sports seriously here !

Water skiing in HK became popular in the 1950's, In the 1960's and early 1970's, tournaments were organised at South Bay on an annual basis. By 1973, the standard of Hong Kong skiers was such that a national team was formed and in 1976, Hong Kong hosted its first international tournament; the 4th South East Asian Championships. In 1977 Hong Kong took first place in the men's overall with slalom and jumping titles and a third overall position in the women's division.

Whilst that standard was not maintained we have an active Water Skiing Association which is running the Hong Kong National & Open Water Ski Championships at Chong Hing Water Sports Centre, Sai Kung Sep 26-27 and the Hong Kong Wakeboard National Championship on Oct 17-18. HK male wakeboarders took the top 3 places at the 2008 China National Water Ski Championships.

So if you are into fast boats and taut bodies you can do a lot worse than here.

Rowing, Canoeing & Dragonboats

Of couse no discussion of HK water sports would be complete without mention of rowing and in particular Dragon Boat Racing.

Dragon boats racing originated in China over 2000 years ago. Races (a team paddling sport) are traditionally held as part of the Duanwu Festival which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar (2010 - June 16). While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of folk ritual, it emerged in modern times as an international "sport" in Hong Kong in 1976 and is parcatice throughout asia.

In HK the sport is administered by the HK Dragon Boats Association This is a specialist sport requiring plenty of sun block and a dragon (mother in laws do not count)

If you are into more traditional rowing or canoeing (or lacking in supplies of sun block etc because you come from somewhere without sun) eg you are a member of the Monkstown & Cork Harbour Rowing Club or the Passage West Yawl Rowing Club and you want to get a few strokes in, whilst visiting HK you could try and get visitor privleges etc through

or one of the Rowing clubs listed by the HK Culture and Leisure Service Department.

Angling

This brings me neatly to the sport of Angling; Although there are no fishable rivers to speak of in HK , visitors (and locals) can fish in

Local Reservoirs: The Water Suppy Deparetment in HK manages 10 reservoirs stocked with Silver Carp, Big Head, Tilapia, Mud Carp, Edible Goldfish, Wild Carp, etc. which may be fished from 1 September - 31 March. A fishing licence has to be obtained from the Department (costs $24 valid for 3 years) and there are some catch restrictions. A summary may be found here
The Sea: You don't need a licence to recreationally fish in the sea. You just need some gear (good quality japanese kit is cheap here! ) and access to the shoreline, a habour wall or jetty etc . If however you were from either a member the Passage West Angling Club or the Monkstown Sea Angling Club, Cork wanting to do some serious big game fishing you would follow the oOffshore anglers who typically head 20 and 40 miles south into the South China sea bewteen spring and autumn looking for dorado, tuna, sailfish or marlin.A good point of contact might be the HK Mandarin Sports Fishing Club (NB My virus scanner detected a tojan on their web site this morning!!) or a good tackle shop

Swimming & Diving

If you are looking for full immersion (getting serioiusly wet) and competative swimming or life saving is your game you might want to contact the HK Amateur Swimming Association or the HK Life Saving Society.(I understand you can practice mouth to mouth here) Of course if you just want to go for a swim (other than in your hotel bath) you should perhaps check out your the public pools and beaches. It's worth bearing in mind that we do get sharks in HK waters so popular beaches tend to have shark nets.

If you are a diver you should perhaps contact the

Personally if want to go eyeball to eyeball with the fishes I prefer to visit Ocean Park but then I am a woz.

Labels: diving, MIDDLEBURGH, Rowing, Sailing, Scuba, Surfing, Swimming, Wakeboard, Wind Surfing

Posted at 8/30/2009 02:53:00 pm by David Middleburgh Permalink

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