On the morning of 27 March 2024, twenty-one boats lined up across Victoria Harbour with the Hong Kong skyline standing behind them. At 1120hrs the gun went, and a fleet of 191 sailors from 26 countries and territories headed out towards the open sea — bound for Subic Bay in the Philippines, 565 nautical miles away.
Somewhere in the middle of that fleet, under a black mainsail carrying the number TPE 1777, was a 36-footer called Gutsy. She was the first entry from Chinese Taipei in the history of the Rolex China Sea Race. Molrev was one of the sponsors behind her.
A Race That Follows an Old Trade Route
The China Sea Race was first run by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in 1962, and its course still traces the old trading routes that linked southern China with the Philippines. Rolex became title sponsor in 2008, and the race remains the only event in Asia on the Rolex sailing calendar — the overall winner is presented with a Rolex timepiece. Normally sailed every two years, it was run again in 2023 to make up for the editions lost to the pandemic.
It is not a coastal race. Once the fleet clears the shelter of Hong Kong there is nothing but open water and three days and nights of it — watches, wet bunks, sail changes in the dark, and the long business of keeping a boat moving when nobody is watching.
A Magic Start, Then the Swell
The start was as good as Hong Kong gets: a north-easterly of 10 to 12 knots, clean air, and a harbour full of spectator boats. It did not last. Once the fleet passed out of the sheltered water it was met by swells of up to 2.5 metres, and the racing turned into a long, wet, physical passage across the South China Sea.
Thirty-Five Years in Taiwan, and a First for the Flag
Gutsy was skippered by Mondher Latiri — French, and for more than 35 years a resident of Taiwan. He sailed with a Taiwanese crew, and his reason for being on that start line was simple enough: to bring the experience of a genuine international offshore race back home, and to show that a Taiwanese crew belongs in one.
That matters more than it sounds. Taiwan has a small sailing community and few chances to race offshore under its own flag — so seeing TPE on a sail number in Victoria Harbour was a first for everyone who sails out of Taiwan.
Gutsy: A Pogo 36 Built for This Kind of Water
Gutsy is a Pogo 36 from Pogo Structures in Brittany — light, beamy aft and twin-ruddered, a design that comes alive in a breeze. She was far from the largest boat in the fleet, but 565 miles of open water rewards preparation and seamanship as much as waterline length.
Why Molrev Was Behind Her
Three days and nights of open water, big swells and small hours — a race like this is less about beating other boats than about going beyond what you thought you could do. That is what Beyond Boundary means to Molrev, and why Molrev was proud to sponsor and support Gutsy’s 2024 campaign.
Subic Bay
At the front of the fleet the race was decided by minutes. Happy Go, the TP52 helmed by Nie Hua, crossed the line at Subic Bay on 30 March at 05:20:53 to take both Line Honours and the IRC overall win, roughly five minutes ahead of the Filipino-crewed Standard Insurance Centennial V. Seawolf took second overall.
And in her own time, Gutsy sailed in too — course completed, crew intact, Taiwan’s first Rolex China Sea Race in the record books rather than in the conversation.
Photographs: Rolex / Andrea Francolini; RHKYC / Guy Nowell; RHKYC / Clicks Images (Lampson Yip).