Philippine President's Cup Final Results

by Captain Marty Rijkuris on 11 Mar 2007 Once again the breeze was over twenty knots whipping up choppy seas that made boat handling a little difficult as crews put in a make or break effort to improve their standings. Several boats experienced the death rolls, wild broaches and Chinese gybes as they powered downwind. The windward mark dragged out of position during race five turning the course into a soldier’s course and was completed within forty minutes.

Despite Frank Pong's Jelik powering off into the distance it was Ray Roberts turn on his DK46 Quantum Racing to claim handicap honours in front of Neil Pryde's Farr 52 Hi-Fi on race five.

Only seconds away Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial climbed into third place relegating Jelik to fourth. With the juggling of places it was still not clear who would come out on top so the sixth and final race would eventually become the decider.

Race six in the fresh conditions saw Frank Pong's Jelik put in a blitzing performance but was it enough to claim overall victory? Sam Chan's FFreefire was not far behind and led the 50 footers by a healthy margin.

Defending champion Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial and Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing were locked in battle as they have been all regatta and as they crossed the line allot of number crunching was heard going on aboard the boats. Eventually it was Frank Pong's Jelik that had done enough to win the race and by recording his forth win on handicap to take out overall victory and the President's Cup for the first time.

Sam Chan's FFreefire slotted into second place on race six to show they are back after a troublesome start to the event. After the drop race was calculated Ernesto Echauz's Centennial finished second and Ray Roberts Quantum Racing in third overall to bring a successful conclusion to an action packed regatta.

The hotly contested IRC 1 Class saw an end to Jun Avecilla's chances when his Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star, Chinese gybed injuring two crew members and withdrawing from the final two races. Thereby leaving the door open for Klass Hiisjes Dutch team on the BH 36 Sandaway to score two wins and collect the overall class winner’s trophy.

Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings all the way from Singapore never gave up and scored two second places to finish second on the podium. Allen Burrell's Farr 1104 Rags slipped into third overall which relegated Selma Star to fourth place after his nasty mishap.

The International Jury dismissed yesterdays protest in the PY Class leaving the way clear for Rainer Blum's Celestial China Rose to go forward and win the trophy from Arvin Simtoco and Seiji Kawakami's X99 Fast Exit in the two horse race. Today's win for China Rose sealed the deal to make it three wins out of four races.

The combining of the Boracay Race and the President's Cup has been heralded by all competitors as a tremendous success. Racing in paradise... Strong wind, close racing and a great venue are the ingredients needed to produce an exceptional event and the competitors happy.

So much so, that the organisers have decided to hold the event in Boracay on a bi-annual basis with Subic Bay on alternate years. A mini series after the Boracay Race has been muted on the intervening years.

Over the past few years keelboat racing in general has been on the decline in the Philippine's and the success here may just be the incentive needed to revive it and give sailing that extra boost to attract International competitors and interest.

Phillipine President's Cup Regatta

IRC RACING CLASS Boat Owner Type Sail No IRC 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Drop Total Posn                               Jelik Frank Pong Reichel / Pugh 75 HKG 600 1.462 1 3 1 1 4 1 11 4 7 1 Centennial Ernesto Echauz Syndney 46 PHI 9999 1.178 2 1 2 3 3 3 14 3 11 2 Quantum Racing Ray Roberts DK 46 8899 1.204 5 2 3 5 1 4 20 5 15 3 Hi-Fi Neil Pryde Farr 52 OD HKG 2112 1.311 4 4 4 4 2 5 23 5 18 4 Ffreefire Sam Chan TP 52 HKG 2238 1.334 3 10 10 2 6 2 33 10 23 5 Karakoa Ray Ordoveza Excel 53 PHI 8088 1.226 6 5 6 7 5 6 35 7 28 6 Mandrake Fred Kinmouth Mills 51 Custom HKG 2166 1.288 7 6 5 6 7 7 38 7 31 7 Hummingbird Adam Ng Corby 41.6 HKG 2268 1.166 9 7 7 8 9 10 50 10 40 8 Jaywalker Paul Bankowski Kerr 11.3 HKG 1978 1.154 8 8 8 9 8 8 49 9 40 9

IRC 1 CLASS Boat Owner Type Sail No IRC 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Drop Total Posn                               Sandoway Klass Huisjes BH 36 PHI 999 1.078 1.4 2 2 1 1 1 8.4 2 6.4 1 Happy Endings Jonathan Mahony Mumm 30 SIN 2811 1.087 4 3 4 5 2 2 20 5 15 2 Rags Allan Burrell Farr 1104 3978 0.986 4.6 4 1 4 11 3 27.6 11 16.6 3 Selma Star Jesus Avecilla Jr. First 36.7 SVG 1367 1.039 2 1 3 2 11 11 30 11 19 4 Salina Richard Morris Schock 35 USA 50402 1.012 4.2 6 5 3 3 4 25.2 6 19.2 5 Irresistible Harry Taylor / D.B. Brizuela S & S 36 PHI 1523 0.947 1 5 7 6 5 6 30 7 23 6 Selma Joser Hsieh First 31.7 PHI 13311 0.980 6 9 6 7 6 5 39 9 30 7 Solviento Jose Arinaz Banner 41 8465 1.031 3 7 8 8 8 7 41 8 33 8 Ho Ho Ho Jeffrey McClelan X99 Custom HKG 1195 1.095 5 8 9 9 7 8 46 9 37 9 Challenge Martin Tanco X 452 HKG 10965 1.065 7 11 11 11 11 11 62 11 51 10

PY CRUISING CLASS Boat Owner Type Sail No PY 1 2 3 4 Total Posn                       China Rose Rainer Blum Celestial C 1694 1054 1 1 2 1 5 1 Fast Exit Arvin Simtoco/Seiji Kawakami X99 HKG1659 988 2 2 1 2 7 2 Sweet Pea Evangelina Giorgetti Hunter 35.5 GSV32991 927 3 3 3 3 12 3

Boracay Race

IRC RACING CLASS Boat Owner Type Sail No IRC   Finish Elapsed Corrected             Day Hr Min Sec Time Time Posn Centennial Ernesto Echauz Sydney 46 PHI 9999 1.178 2 2 56 11 36:56:11 43:30:40 1 Happy Endings Jonathan Mahony Mumm 30 SIN 2811 1.087 2 6 19 41 40:19:41 43:50:12 2 Karakoa Ray Ordoveza Excel 53 PHI 8088 1.226 2 2 28 22 36:28:22 44:42:56 3 Mandrake Fred Kinmouth Mills 51 Custom HKG 2166 1.288 2 0 44 32 34:44:32 44:44:53 4 Ffreefire Sam Chan TP 52 HKG 2238 1.331 2 0 51 52 34:51:52 46:24:16 5 Jaywalker Paul Bankowski Kerr 11.3 HKG 1978 1.154 2 6 22 45 40:22:45 46:35:51 6 Ho Ho Ho Jeffrey McClelan X99 Custom HKG 1195 1.095 2 9 17 30 43:17:30 47:24:16 7 Maiden Hong Kong Frank Pong Juan 115 Custom HKG 1 1.947             DNF Hummingbird Adam Ng Corby 41.6 HKG 2268 1.166             RTD

IRC 1 CLASS Boat Owner Type Sail No IRC   Finish Elapsed Corrected             Day Hr Min Sec Time Time Posn Irresistible Harry Taylor / D.B. Brizuela S & S 36 PHI 1523 0.947 2 9 53 42 43:53:42 41:34:07 1 Vivaldi Claudio Altura J 35 87767 1.020 2 8 12 35 42:12:35 43:03:14 2 Fast Exit Arvin Simtoco / Seiji Kawakami X 99 HKG 1659 0.998 2 9 30 23 43:30:23 43:25:10 3 Sandoway Klass Huisjes BH 36 PHI 999 1.078 2 6 16 49 40:16:49 43:25:20 4 Challenge Martin Tanco X 452 HKG 10965 1.065 2 6 56 2 40:56:02 43:35:41 5 Selma Star Jesus Avecilla Jr. First 36.7 SVG 1367 1.039 2 8 13 10 42:13:10 43:51:58 6 Solviento Jose Arinaz Banner 41 8465 1.031 2 9 37 0 43:37:00 44:58:08 7 Strewth Geoffrey Hill Lyons 49   1.156 2 5 17 14 39:17:14 45:24:58 8 Salina Richard Morris Schock 35 USA 50402 1.012 2 10 58 19 44:58:19 45:30:42 9 Rags Allan Burrell Farr 1104 3978 0.986             RTD

PY CRUISING CLASS Boat Owner Type Sail No PY   Finish Elapsed Corrected             Day Hr Min Sec Time Time Posn China Rose Rainer Blum Celestial   1054 2 12 50 13 46:50:13 44:26:14 1 Sorcerer Austen Chamberlain Irwin 37   940 2 10 0 41 44:00:41 46:49:14 2 Solviento Jose Arinaz Banner 41 8465 893 2 9 37 0 43:37:00 48:50:34 3 Irresistible Harry Taylor / D.B. Brizuela S & S 36 PHI 1523 891 2 9 53 42 43:53:42 49:15:54 4 Vivaldi Claudio Altura J 35 87767 840 2 8 12 35 42:12:35 50:14:59 5 Selma Star Jesus Avecilla Jr. First 36.7 SVG 1367 820 2 8 13 10 42:13:10 51:29:14 6 Challenge Martin Tanco X 452 HKG 10965 794 2 6 56 2 40:56:02 51:33:14 7 Slalom Glade Goran Rudelius Contassa 35   895 2 12 13 0 46:13:00 51:38:19 8 Sandoway Klass Huisjes BH 36 PHI 999 771 2 6 16 49 40:16:49 52:14:39 9 Strewth Geoffrey Hill Lyons 49   740 2 5 17 14 39:17:14 53:05:27 10 Salina Richard Morris Schock 35 USA 50402 796 2 10 58 19 44:58:19 56:29:51 11 Rags Allan Burrell Farr 1104 3978 871             RTD