In the 1600s what is now Discovery Bay, Lantau Island was home to Kuo Hung Yeh, a notorious Pirate of the South China Seas. Known for his mastery of the seas and unique brand of seamanship, Kuo Hung Yeh was renowned for his skilful handling of his fleet of seven to fifteen ships of varying sizes.

The Ming Dynasty spent a large part of the imperial treasury trying to capture and/or destroy him but he always evaded them until sometime in 1597 when, just off the coast of Hainan Island, the emperor?s imperial fleet cornered him. So incensed was the Emperor by the success of Kuo?s pirate fleet that he had sent out the entire imperial fleet to destroy him once and for all. However, the battle did not go according to the Emperor?s wishes and far from fleeing the mighty imperial ships, Kuo relished the challenge.

The admirals of the imperial fleet became so alarmed and confused by the unique methods and daring Kuo used in his attack that they were unable to counter them. Rather than rely on the firepower of large battle ships as was the traditional method of the day, Kuo made sure that his fleet, which consisted of ships of varying sizes, worked as a team and followed a well thought out, simple yet superbly executed battle plan that the crews had practised countless times. So swiftly and nimbly did his large ships manoeuvre that the imperial fleet was unable to train their guns on them while his smaller ships packed so much fire power compared to the norm of the day that the result that the imperial fleet was almost destroyed.

Later, the admiral of the imperial fleet in a letter to the Emperor told of how Kuo “Manoeuvred his big ships as nimbly as his small ships while his small ships seemed to have the fire power of his big ships”. So unique was Kuo?s use of his ships that the tactics become known as „Total Seamanship.”

After the battle Kuo retreated to his base in Discovery Bay where he remained for six months before setting sail and leaving Lantau forever. No one knows what happened to him or his fleet but

his legacy remains in the form of naval tactics and team work.

In fact so far did his fame spread and unique was his brand of “Total Seamanship” that the British Royal Navy later used his tactics as a basis for training young officers of the line in naval warfare.

So it was no surprise that when a rugby club was formed in Discovery Bay the name chosen for the club was Discovery Bay Pirates and that they also chose to develop a style of rugby that has become known as „Pirate Rugby? – total rugby. After all, there is a tradition of skilful, unique and ferocious pirates in Discovery Bay.