15th President's Cup 07
AY Race Report 4 & Summary

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Close finish to a great regatta...
Coming into the final day of racing the podium places in all classes were still open for the taking. 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 soldiers 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 a 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 winners 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.

Summary
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 a 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.

Goto the 2007 AY Photo Library

Full President's Cup and Boracay Race Results are at: http://www.manilayachtclub.org/prescup/results2007.htm

15th President's Cup 07
AY Race Report 3

Roaring around in paradise...
The organising committee have received nothing but praise from the competitors for choosing Boracay for this year's President's Cup. Race Director George Hackett said at the briefing that only two things start on time in the Philippines - Church services and yacht races - but the most consistent thing in Boracay at this time of the year must be the wind strength and direction.

A fifteen knot North Easterly greeted the sailors at the start of racing which built to twenty by the time the yachts reached Carabao Island. A steep 1-2 meter sea was whipped up by the wind blowing against the current, reminiscent of racing outside Sydney heads. Unfortunately frightening the media boat driver so much that we had to return to the lee of Boracay without taking any photos. The racers like nothing more than glorious sunshine and strong wind which makes for hard racing during the day and a venue with terrific night life for hard partying at night.

Once again Frank Pong's 75ft Jelik reveled in the strong wind and prefers the scenic passage races over the windward/leeward races to take a third daily double of line and handicap honours and jump to a convincing overall lead in the pointscore after four races. After flying in overnight a replacement mainsail from Hong Kong Sam Chan's TP52 Ffreefire also enjoyed the long fine reaching legs to score second place and finally get onto the podium.

Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial and Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing continued on with their match race around the course with less than a hundred meters separating them for the entire race. The lower rating Centennial often leading Quantum got piped at the finish but on handicap scored third place and jumped into second overall with Quantum relegated to fifth place and third overall. Neil Pryde's Farr 52 Hi-Fi slotted into forth and is doing the best of the 50 footers to date.

The IRC 1 Class were very keen to get away and Jun Avecilla was more eager than others as his Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star was over the line and had to be recalled. Klass Hiisjes BH 36 Sandaway kept a clean nose and powered off into the lead leaving the fleet in his wake. After scoring consecutive second places on Sandaway in the earlier races it came as a relief for Klass Hiisjes Dutch Team to finally clinch first place on line and handicap to elevate them to second in the overall standings.

Jun Avecilla made a healthy comeback on Selma Star after wisely restarting to secure second place and take the lead in the overall standings. Richard Morris on his Schock 35 Salina ironed out some earlier problems to score third place in front of a chasing pack. The International jury have decided to award average score of placing's to the four boats that mistakenly sailed the long course on Race One which will reduce their points and narrow in the pointscore between Selma Star and Sandaway at the top of the leaderboard. The final two races will determine the winner and both boats will have to go flat out to win the series.

The PY Class saw Arvin Simtoco and Seiji Kawakami's X99 Fast Exit finally get the better of Rainer Blum's Celestial China Rose and to add insult onto injury Fast Exit have protested China Rose for receiving outside assistance after being informed by a third party that they were over the startline thus helping them to return and restart. Seems quite strange in a two horse race that they won anyhow.

The final day of racing has two windward/leeward races scheduled. The final placing's in all classes are still open for the taking and another day of exciting racing is yet to come.

Goto the 2007 AY Photo Library

Full President's Cup and Boracay Race Results are at: http://www.manilayachtclub.org/prescup/results2007.htm

15th President's Cup 07
AY Race Report 2

Life is a beach in Boracay...
An unusual early morning storm bought a temporary lull in the wind but by the ten thirty start time had returned at ten knots and built up to twenty by the final beat of Race 2. Two scheduled windward leeward's were completed in quick succession as skippers were keen to improve their placing's and get on with the racing.

Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial and Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing are very closely matched and chased each other around the course. In Race 2 Centennial got the better of Quantum Racing to take the handicap honours. Frank Pong's 75ft Jelik streaked ahead to take line honours and managed to hold enough time on the rest of the fleet to claim third spot.

Race three started with Frank Pong's 75ft Jelik being called over the line and found it difficult to extract themselves from a tightly packed fleet. Despite losing some valuable time returning to the start, it gave the crew an incentive to crank it up around the course to score a daily double of line and handicap honours by two and a half minutes plus take the overall lead on points.

Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing turned the tables on Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial to finish second and forth respectively. Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi is being crewed by top ranked Aussie sailors and managed to sneak into third place, only eighteen seconds behind Quantum. The other fifty footers of Karakoa, Mandrake and Ffreefire are traveling in close company in the second bunch and despite not taking podium positions are separated by only a minute to end up down the order. Ffreefire tore the mainsail and eventually had to withdraw.

Another exciting battle is developing in the IRC 1 Class. Jun Avecilla's Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star sailed up to the boats expectations to score first place in race two. Klass Hiisjes BH 36 Sandaway got smartly around the course to take second place and despite Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings taking line honours ended up in third place after handicaps have been applied.

Race three saw Allan Burrell's Farr 1104 Rags putting in a big performance to take first place on this occasion. Klass Hiisjes Dutch team on the BH 36 Sandaway stayed on the pace to take line honours but were piped by Rags to end up in second place. Jun Avecilla's third place on Selma Star puts the Beneteau First 36.7 at the top of the overall leader board after consistently scoring in the top three placing's. Less than a minute separates 4th to 6th place which indicates the competitiveness of the fleet.

The PY Class saw Rainer Blum's Celestial China Rose taking another win on handicap over Arvin Simtoco and Seiji Kawakami's X99 Fast Exit despite them holding a seven minute lead this time across the finish line.

Racing continues on Day 3 with a long passage race to the neighboring islands including circumnavigating Boracay. Navigating the narrow channel between Panayi and Boracay could prove a little tricky as the current is known to flow up to five knots at its peak.

Full President's Cup and Boracay Race Results are at: http://www.manilayachtclub.org/prescup/results2007.htm

15th President's Cup 07
AY Race Report 1

Champagne sailing conditions on first day...
Power reaching, a 10nm bash to windward and a surging downwind run was the order of the day on the 30nm Race One at this years President's Cup. The decision to race in windy Boracay is paying dividends already with the skippers and crews enjoying 15-20 knots of breeze and the wild surfing conditions that they generate. PRO Gerry Rollins chose a passage race to neighboring Cabahan Island for the Racing Class and Cababao Island for the IRC 1 and PY Classes. The finish line off Boracay Beach provided the spectators and sunbathers alike with a fantastic sight as the yachts power reached with speed along the leeward side of the island.

The long race and strong winds gave Frank Pong's 75ft Jelik an opportunity to stretch their legs and claim the daily double of Line and Handicap honours by close to six minutes. Defending champion Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial had Jamie Wilmot's foot flat on the pedal to score second place in front of the bigger rivals. Sam Chan's TP 52 Ffreefire narrowly claimed third spot only five seconds in front of Ray Roberts Quantum Racing in forth place.

In the IRC 1 Class Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings was the first to reappear around Boracay's northern headland and shortly after take line honours but finished up down in forth on handicap. A little confusion about which course to sail despite the start boat signaling correctly resulted in a few boats sailing the long racing class course and have requested a redress from the jury. Josie Brizuela and Harry Taylor's Boracay Race overall IRC winning S&S 36 Irresistible have provisionally been awarded a race one win. Jun Avecilla's Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star reveled in the strong conditions to claim second spot. Jose Aranaz's Banner 41 Solvento was on the pace early and just piped Happy Endings for third place by twenty five seconds.

The PY Class saw Rainer Blum's Celestial China Rose come to the fore on handicap beating Arvin Simtoco and Seiji Kawakami's X99 Fast Exit despite holding a three minute lead across the finish line. Evangelina Giorgetti's Hunter 35.5 Sweet Pea suffered some damage and was forced to retire from race one.

A series of 2nm windward/leeward races are scheduled for day two which should suit the smaller rating boats that prefer this style of racing.

Goto the 2007 AY Photo Library

Full President's Cup and Boracay Race Results are at: http://www.manilayachtclub.org/prescup/results2007.htm

15th President's Cup 07
AY Pre-Race Report

Impressive line-up for the Cup...
Frank Pong's Reichel/Pugh 75ft Jelik, Neil Pride's Farr 52 Hi Fi and Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing are joining an already impressive list of entries for the President's Cup. Although there is a combined Boracay Race and President's Cup Series each event can be entered separately and due to various time constraints these owners have chosen to just contest the Cup. Jelik is more suited to racing around the cans and Admiral Frank is looking forward to resuming racing against Ray Roberts and Quantum Racing who so narrowly piped him on the last race in Langkawi last month. The fresher breezes and longer courses may suit Jelik better on this occasion.

Most of the boats that have scored points on the 2006-07 AY Grand Prix Championships are here and desperately looking to improve their standings with only 3 regattas left to score valuable points. Local Philippine boats of Ray Ordoveza's Excel 53 Karakoa and defending President's Cup champion Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial are determined not to let the foreign entrants steam roll them and are very experienced in local waters. Although they have not raced at other Asian regatta's they are keen to at least get on the AYGP scoreboard. Neil Pride's Farr 52 Hi Fi presently leads the championships on six points. There is now four skippers and yachts tied on three points and only one regatta win away from the leader. The Fred Kinmonth and Nick Burns owned Mandrake is on five points and closest to the leader. Check out how your favourite racing team is going at: http://asianyachting.com/news/AYGP06-07.htm

Also an impressive list of 12 entrants are lining up for the IRC Cruiser/Racing division mainly made up of various production boats in the 30 to 40ft range. They are a close bunch of racers that comprise of the usual local suspects that like nothing better than some good hard racing followed by some lively entertainment at night.

Racing resumes in earnest tomorrow with a passage race around the islands. As the breeze at Boracay during the day and night has consistently been above 10 to 15 knots crews have dusted of the cobwebs on the number 3 and 4 headsail's in anticipation. Racing in 1-2 meter swells on the windward side of the island will also be a new experience for many boat crews that are used to the more sedate and sheltered harbour courses back home. None the less after the Boracay Race experience we can expect some close and exciting racing over the next four days.

Full Boracay Race Results are at: http://www.manilayachtclub.org/prescup/results2007.htm

Manila Boracay Race - President's Cup 07
AY Race Report 2

Finally everyone has finished...
A weary lot of sunburnt sailors are dragging themselves into the Sea Wind Resort and drowning their sorrows with ice cold San Miguel beer. Most have spent up to six hours becalmed in parking lots along the 200nm course from Manila to Boracay. "This must be the slowest race on record" exclaimed one "We have been robbed of the fantastic surfing conditions of past years" proclaimed another. Never the less everyone has arrived safely and despite the stop and go conditions relieved to have arrived in the tropical island paradise.

The clash of the highest IRC rated boat in the world being Frank Pong's Maiden Hong Kong at 1.947 with the usual suspects did not eventuate as Frank chose not to officially finish and use the race purely as a shake down event for the previously untested boat and crew that has taken some time to come together. Instead it was the Fred Kinmonth and Nick Burns Farr-Mills 51 Mandrake that took line honours about ten hours latter but due to having a re-start half way along the course finished up forth on handicap. Race founder Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centennial finished over two hours behind Mandrake but after handicaps are applied has won the event by twenty minutes. Second place has provisionally gone to Singapore's Jonathan Mahony on the Mumm 30 Happy Endings but a protest has been lodged and due to be heard latter. Ray Ordoveza's Excel 53 Karakoa took advantage of the light conditions and finished a little over one hour behind Mandrake to sneak into third place overall and relegate them to fourth by less than two minutes. Given the length of the race and the light conditions the first four boats are only separated by a little over an hour which could have gone either way after re-starting half way along the course.

In IRC 1 Class line honours went to Geoff Hill's MKL 49 Strewth but as the smaller boats were hot on their heels they have finished well down the order. In the end it was D. B. Brizuela and Harry Taylor's S&S 36 Irresistible that showed its pedigree and claimed first spot on handicap and having the lowest IRC corrected time of both the racing and cruiser/racer class to be crowned the overall IRC Boracay Race champion this year.

Claudio Altura's J-35 Vivaldi is usually amongst the winners and not surprisingly ended up in second spot. At the end of the day Arvin Simtoco and S. Kawakami's much smaller X-99 Fast Exit slotted into third place making it a small boat race. Suzie Burrel's Bashford 36 Sandoway (Sailed by the Dutch team led by Klass Huisjes) finished only ten seconds away to end up in forth place. As less than an hour separated the first five placing's after 44 hours of racing shows the competitive nature of the fleet.

The combined PY Cruising Class saw Rainer Blum's Celestial 49 China Rose come to the fore and post first place. Austen Chamberlain's Irwin 37 Sorcerer came in a close second and Arvin Simtoco and S. Kawakami's X-99 Fast Exit corrected out into third place.

Crews now have one day to recover and prepare the boats for the President's Cup starting on Wednesday.

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Manila Boracay Race - President's Cup 07
AY Race Report 1

Light winds deprive Maiden HK of race record...
Light and variable winds after leaving Manila Bay and overnight in the Verde Passage led the fleet onto being becalmed on the north east corner of Mindoro. All chances of Frank Pong's Juan 115ft Maiden Hong Kong breaking the record on her debut race went out the window. Ironically the present record of a little over 17 hours was set by Frank last year on his 75ft Jelik that is lying on anchor at the Boracay finish line waiting for the President's Cup to begin latter in the week.

The wind on the approaches and in Boracay has been above twenty knots for the past twenty four hours. This helped them streak across the bay in front of Boracay Beach at eighteen knots trying to make up for lost time with the press boat in hot pursuit. Finishing after 2:00 pm gives Maiden Hong Kong an elapsed time of over 24 hours and a good workout on her maiden race.

The port hand bias at the Manila start line saw some crowding out at the pin end with Paul Bankowski's Kerr 11.3 Jaywalker eventually being called over the line. A quick U-turn saw them start again and join with the forty to fifty footers on a close reach in eight knots of breeze down the Luzon coast. As the sun sets in Boracay no other boats are expected until late in the night or early morning making it one of the slowest events on record. Several boats have notified the race committee that they are proceeding under motor and hope to arrive tomorrow sometime.

Manila Boracay Race - President's Cup 07
AY Pre Regatta Report

A formidable line-up of racing boats is lining up for the combined Manila Boracay Race and Presidents Cup this year. For the first time the 5th Standard Insurance Manila Boracay Race (MBR) is tied in with the 15th President's Cup Regatta and held right thereafter to form part of a new Manila-Boracay President's Cup Race Series. The combined 200-mile passage race and the inshore and offshore races in Boracay are the two most popular sailing events in the Philippines and expected to bring about a very challenging and grueling week long contest that promises to see some of the most exciting racing in Asia.

The island location with breathtaking sceneries, coral white sand beaches under clear blue waters and warm sunny windy weather conditions is just perfect and ideal for the regattas. This new blend has attracted the best grand-prix yachts from neighboring countries, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan with first-rate sailing teams and crews from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, England, Holland, China and Taiwan ever assembled.

A total of 26 entries so far, is more than twice the number of entries for the Borocay Race last year. The quality of foreign entries this year is dominated by top-notch past Asian Racing Class winners making the combined sailing event the toughest racing competition ever assembled in East Asian waters. Frank Pong's Juan 115 Custom Maiden Hong Kong in the Boracay Race and his 75 Racheil/Pugh Jelik in the President's Cup, Neil Pride's Farr 52 Hi Fidelity, Sam Chan and Russ Parker's TP 52 Ffree Fire, Frederick Kinmonth and Nick Burns Farr-Mills 51 Mandrake, Geoff Hill's MKL 49 Strewth, Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing, Adam Ang's Corby 41.6 Hummingbird from mainland China, Paul Bankowski's Kerr 11.3 Jaywalker and Jeffrey Maclean's X99 Ho Ho Ho, and last but certainly not the least, Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings being the first Singapore entry rounds out the formidable foreign boat line up.

Past winners Ray Ordoveza's Excel 53 Karakoa and defending President's Cup champion Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Centenial, lead the local yachts list. M. Reuber and Rainer Blum's Celestial 49 China Rose, Martin Tanco's X-452 Challenge, Jose Aranaz's Banner 41 Solvento, Austen Chamberlain's Irwin 37 Sorcerer, Jun  Avecilla's Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star and First 31.7 Selma to be skippered by Joser Hsieh, Suzie Burrel's Bashford 36 Sandoway (to be sailed by Dutch team led by Klass Huisjes), Allan Burrel's Farr 1104 Rags, D. Brizuela and Harry Taylor's S&S 36 Irresistible, Claudio Altura's J-35 Vivaldi, Richard Morris Shock 35 Salina, Goran Rodelius Contessa 35 Slalom Blade, Arvin Simtoco and S. Kawakami's X-99 Fast Exit comprise the local entries.

The conditions expected over the 200nm course to Boracay can be divided in three stages. The seventy odd miles from Manila to the approaches to the Verde Passage the winds can be very variable in strength and direction because of the steep coastline and series of bays that need to be crossed. The South East prevailing winds will turn the thirty odd miles leading into and out of the Verde Passage into a beat with a long tack with a few short tacks to clear the headlands. The big boats maybe able to do it in one long close hauled leg. After the Verde Passage the course turns into a long hundred mile reach and run all the way to Boracay which all the sailors enjoy as the boats can surge along in surfing conditions.

These premier events are made possible by eStandard Insurance, Smart Infinity, American Express, Oakley, Suunto, Johnnie Walker, Fairways and Bluewaters, San Miguel Super Dry, SeaAir, Clinique, Neil Pryde, The Lighthouse Marina Resort, Mojo, Asia Pacific Boating, Fragrant Harbor, AsianYachting, The Philippine Star, Manifesto, Calibre Magazine and Crossover 105.1. The organising committee are grateful and thankful to them all and hopefully with the enthusiastic response of the participants and the wide international and local publicity that these sailing events generate the sponsors will continue to support these endeavors towards making the MBR-PCR Series a regular part of the Philippine and Asian sailing calendar and destination in the future.

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