Racing now swings over to the Philippines and Hong Kong...
By AY MultiMedia

After gracing Malaysia, Phuket, Thailand and Singapore waters, big boat racing now swings over to the Philippines for the 200nm Subic to Boracay Race (Feb 24-26) and 4-day Boracay Cup (Feb 28 - March 3rd). We are always happy when the Boracay invitation arrives because year on year, strong 20+knot winds have never failed to deliver, making this event consistently one of the most exciting regatta's in the Asian region. Boracay is already known as a mecca for popular marine tourism pursuits in the Philippines and the prevailing winds has allowed them to host numerous International Windsurfing, Kiteboard and Hobie Cat competitions during the year.

Just around the corner in April, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club presents the 50th Rolex China Sea Race (April 4th Start) across to the Philippines and straight after Subic Sailing are conducting the Commodore's Cup (April 10-14) at Subic Bay. These events will give East Asian boat owners and skippers an opportunity to score valuable AYGP Championship points and the last chance to consolidate their overall tally towards winning the AYGP Skipper and Yacht of the Year awards before the season ending Top of the Gulf (May 4-8) and Koh Samui Regatta (May 29 - June 3) in the Gulf of Thailand.

After seven point scoring events 209 Skippers and 194 yachts have scored points in the AYGP Championship. Although the 2011-12 Season has seen some ups and downs in attendance, the newly expanded scoring system is producing some interesting results across the board. If you consider that there was 100 yachts at the King's Cup and 194 yachts on the score sheet after seven events, there must be a lot of duplication at other events and an indication of how small the yachting scene is in the Asian region. Neil Pryde still leads the Skipper of the Year standings with 75 points and is the only skipper to complete six regatta's that count towards the overall score. Trailing by 26 points are co-skippers Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns (49 points /4 regattas) are still in with a chance, as are other Hong Kong skippers likely to compete on several more regatta's before the season finishes in June. After good performances in Langkawi and Singapore Rick Pointon (40 points /4 regattas) climbs into third place and Andrew Stransky (36/3) from the Multihull Class are within striking distance if they go the distance.

As some skippers have chartered or changed boats through the season, a slightly different scenario is playing out in the Yacht of the Year award. Neil Pryde's Hi Fi leads with 58 points / 5 regattas and after winning three events with three different skippers Hannes Waimer's Team Premier/Hooligan is very close behind on 51 points. Alan Carwardine's Stealth 12.6 Sidewinder is tied on 49 points with Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns EFG Bank Mandrake that have three more regatta's to notch up a winning score. Depending on how many races are held at each regatta, if a yacht wins all the races they can score a maximum of 20 points, so being 30 or 40 points behind a yacht that has completed six events, they still have a chance as the season progresses.

The action packed 18th Singapore Straits Regatta - AY Photo Gallery plus the Neptune Regatta - AY Photo Gallery are posted online. Remember to Click on image to enlarge and Click on Arrow Button (Top of Page) to activate slide show. Check out the extensive AY Photo Library and if you find a photo you like, email info@asianyachting.com the details under the image and which gallery it came from. We will then send you "Absolutely free" the highest quality resolution images that we have on file. It's that easy! So what are you waiting for? Start clicking the mouse, we are ready and waiting to send your New Year presents.

Search the 2011-12 AYGP Skipper and Yacht of the Year Pointscore by Overall Skippers - Yachts - Regatta Results

Full details on how the AYGP works can be found on the microsite at: http://asianyachting.com/AYGP/2011-12.htm

All the 2011-12 AY News, Views and Race Reports can be accessed Here...

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