Boracay Cup Regatta 2013 – Karakoa takes the lead

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 20 Feb 2013 The sun always shines on Boracay, right? Sorry, not today. A bit of a case of ‘you should have been here last week,’ no doubt, but the wind blew – 25kts from an unusually northerly direction. It was great weather for yacht racing, even if it did look like the English Channel, but not quite so good for RO Jerry Rollin, fresh from the Neptune Regatta in Indonesia via a change of clothes in Manila and a flying visit to 7-Eleven for a new set of AA cells for his GPS. ('There just wasn’t time for anything else.') The banca (Committee Boat) looked quite big on the beach, but looked a great deal less big as it disappeared among the swells on the start line.

It was even less good for the camera boat, with a huddle of die-hard journos getting a full-on soaking inside the first ten minutes – then ‘rinse, and repeat every 60 seconds.’

IRC Cruising division went off on a starboard-hand circumnavigation of Boracay, with Martin Tanco’s Centennial II making short work of the 13nm course and completing the trip in 2h 01m 47s. By the time the rest of the division came around the bottom of the island and through the Tablas Strait, the rain had started and (just like the English Channel) looked set for the day. Sorcerer’s crew reported a good deal of lube work on a boat that may not get sailed very often, and were also surprised to find wire halyards still installed. 'We’re not afraid of a blow,' said Peter Sorensen and his Sydney sailors, 'but we’d rather that it didn’t blow too hard for the next few days…'

Course 6 for the IRC Racing division, Boracay to starboard, Carabao to port, Boracay to starboard – in other words, a figure of eight. ‘We had a very poor first beat,’ reported Neil Pryde, ‘and nearly – but not quite - ended up in a serious altercation with Centennial III at the windward mark. And broke a halyard at the same time. The beat up the back of Carabao seemed to go on forever. We were short-tacking up the east shore of the island, which was hard work but really paid off.’ HiFi also reported top wind speeds of 25kts and a top boatspeed of 23kts. (And Antipodes claimed 20kts+. If only the media boat had been able to get there…).

By the time the Racing fleet came through the Tablas Strait past the ferry pier, it was an evenly-spaced procession. Jelik, Antipodes, HiFi, Centennial, Karakoa, with Centennial showing off a magnificent impersonation of a submarine. After a typo glitch on the results sheets which gave HiFi a win, honour was restored when the numbers were recalculated, giving today’s win to Ray Ordoveza’s Karakoa. Having reportedly run through most of the sail wardrobe last year, a new racing main obviously made a difference, but not before they had blown two more spinnakers just for good measure.

‘Strictly informal’ prize presentation at Epic this evening – the most relaxed-looking sailors’ party we have seen since – well, since last week. There is a nasty storm about to arrive in the Philippines, well to the north of Boracay, but close enough to disturb the usual wind patterns. Tomorrow’s forecast promises more of the same, and more of it.

Results
IRC Racing
1. Karakoa
2. HiFi
3. Jelik
4. Antipodes
5. Centennial III
6. Zanzibar retired before the start with an injured crewmember.
IRC Cruising
1. Centennial II
2. Selma Star
3. Sorcerer

The Boracay Cup Regatta 2013 is proudly sponsored by the Philippines’ Department of Tourism (‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines!’); the Philippines Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO); the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA); I Love Wine; Ibiza; Movenpick Hotels; Fila Sportswear.