Coronavirus causes Hong Kong Race Week sailing regatta postponement as city alert raised to emergency status
- The virus, which started in Wuhan, has caused a number of major events, including the Hong Kong Marathon, to be cancelled or postponed
Hong Kong Race Week has been postponed as the government takes further emergency action against the spread of the coronavirus. Race Week, an event for junior sailors, is one of the largest dinghy regattas in Asia, and was to have taken place from February 4 to 9. It is organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), the Hong Kong Sailing Federation (HKSF) and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC).
“Following the HKSAR Government’s raising of the response level to emergency status, the LCSD has cancelled all of their major events and urged community groups to take public health risks into account when organising any large scale event,” a statement on the event website read.
Race Week is part of the Asia Sailing Federation (ASAF) Youth Cup, which sees young sailors compete across Asia in two kinds of dinghy – Optimists and Lasers.
A new date has not been set.
“We will provide further updates once the organising committee have had the chance to review any new recommendations from HKSAR Government and have been able to find a suitable date to reschedule the event to,” the statement said.
