All Souls Regatta Day 3 - Puerto Galera's 'Boys' take overall crown

by Asian Yachting on 5 Nov 2012 The 2012 All Souls Regatta came to a scintillating finish as winds as strong as 16 knots made the final race a lot tougher for the competitors. At the end of the day, the boys on Guinivere II overcame all sorts of adversities throughout the three-day event to capture the overall crown on their maiden racing competition.

The whole fleet raced together on the same course for the final race shootout. Exiting the Manila Channel, then a beat up to Pt Lacarceo and South to the Bulabod Beach turning mark and back via the small La Laguna Beach mark and finishing of Haligi Beach. In total 16nm and half of it to windward to sort the men from the boys or vice versa. The breeze remained with 12 to 16 knots offshore and tricky under the headlands to cause some concern for yachts trying to sail the direct route to the finish. At the end of the day 'Bill the Brave' came up with the class results and devised a pointscoring system to produce an overall winner and placing's for the entire fleet.

The Puerto Galera Yacht Club's youth team on Guinivere II, have dominated the Cruiser/Racer Class, winning every race to win the class and go on to take the Overall Title on their first outing. Santi Picornell's Strawberry Hill claimed second place today and fourth in the overall stakes. Third place for David Wheeler's Free Wheeler added onto yesterdays second place leaves them in eighth overall.

In the Multihull Class, K. Magill's Siri Ya also completed the trifecta to win the class and tied for third in the Overall calculations. Second place today for Chris Boddington's Windjammer lifted them to second in the class and second in the overall stakes. Third place for B. Feldman's Kalakuta drops them to third in the class after a good start to the regatta.

David McKenna's Raparee XXX sailed by the Subic Bay Youth Team stayed on track with a brilliant performance to complete the trifecta in the Cruiser/Racer class and claim sixth place overall. Ton Van Hierden's Cocobolo returned to form with second place today and John Ridsdel's Dany II managed to slice their way through the fleet to take third place in front of Harry Taylor's more fancied Irresistable and M. Raeuber's China Rose in fifth.

Ray Ordoveza's defending champion Karakoa overcame some problems plaguing them since the start of the regatta to win both Racing Class handicap systems today and claim third in the overall stakes. Second place and consistency placing in the top two places, sees Jun Avecilla's Selma Star take home the Racing Class title this year. A gallant effort by A. Chamberlain's Sorcerer only to be piped at the finish line in two races to end up in third place.

Summary
The pursuit race format is a great way to get boats that would not normally race out on the water enjoying themselves. Instead of finishing hours after the first boat has gone home, the staggered start has all boats finishing within 20 minutes and everyone knows who has won when they cross the finish line. Something other cruising clubs should consider for a fun filled occasion. After going ashore in a few bays, waiting for the boats to catch up and enjoying some delicious food and beverage at many resorts that dot the palm tree lined bays, has reminded me just how fantastic cruising in the Philippines can be. Many boat owners departing Darwin on Sail Indonesia and ultimately Sail East Malaysia are a bit apprehensive about visiting the Philippines and should look seriously at revising their plans as they are missing a great opportunity to expand their horizons at some of the greatest cruising grounds and hospitality in the world.

Dinghy sailing wrap up

While the main regatta was going on, round the corner at the Sandbar Resort the kids from the PGYC School Sail Training Program were having their own fun on the water. The program is a community project of the club for local schoolchildren. It’s been running for nearly 10 years and has taught over 300 children to sail. Graduates have gone on to represent the Philippines in overseas regatta’s, specifically the Mirror Worlds in Albany, Western Australia, in 2010. On Thursday and Friday this week the club’s 10 Lawin (similar to the famous Mirror dinghy), and 10 Optimist dinghies were put to good use by around 30 youngsters, in 4 classes and 10 races each.

Conditions were challenging for the novice classes, with a brisk 12kt on-shore breeze, resulting in a few capsizes but also some competitive racing. The two Open classes were predominately sailed by the more experienced kids, including 4 members of the Philippines national squad who sailed 2 Lawin's.
In the Optimist Novice class, new rising star James Sleat (10 years old) cleaned up with nine first places from 10 races. The Optimist Open class saw some really tight racing amongst old protagonists, with young Warren eventually squeezing out King with 15 points from 10 races.

The Lawin Novice fleet took a bit of a battering in the breezy conditions and only 6 boats finished the 10 races. first place went to Ken & JR by a mere single point. The Open class all survived the day and was dominated by the local team of DJ and Anthony. Not surprising, really, as DJ was the helm in the Mirror Worlds. He took the trophy with another clean sweep of every race bar one. He, and the other older kids went on to crew the club’s 30’ sloop, Guinevere 2 in the main regatta taking first in Cruising Class and first overall in the regatta. An amazing result for the kids.