2008 Holiday Issue
BARNACLE
Manila Yacht Club
2009 President’s Cup Regatta
Returns to Boracay
204nm racing, thru wild
Verde Passage seas...
Dececember 2008
A fter a successful 2008
President’s Cup Regatta
in Subic Bay where about 30
foreign and local racing yachts
competed in perfect sailing con-
ditions, the country’s premier
yachting regatta returns to the
idyllic island of Boracay.
This is the second time the
Manila to Boracay Race and
President’s Cup Regatta will
be combined. The back to back
events of the Manila Yacht Club
start 14 February 2009 racing
on the waters fronting Manila’s
Roxas Boulevard and will finish in
front of Boracay’s fine powdered
Long Beach.
The President’s Cup Regatta follows the day
after all boats have finished on 18 to 21 Febru-
ary which will be sailed in the waters around
Boracay and Tablas Islands.
Boracay Island waters have a reputation as an
excellent yacht racing destination because of its
strong and consistent winds. These conditions
when combined with beautiful islands and
tropical waters result in exhilarating sailing not
commonly seen in the region. The regatta’s
parties combined with Boracay’s famous beach
front watering holes have also enhanced the
regatta’s reputation as the place to be.
The 7th Manila to Boracay Race and 17th
President’s Cup Regatta are sponsored by
Standard Insurance Co. Inc. and Smart Infinity
and are chaired by the owner-skipper of Subic
the manila y acht club 2351 roxas blvd.manila philippines p.o.box 1085
www.manilayachtclub.org
Centennial of Mr. Ernesto “Judes” Echauz. Judes’
many sailing accomplishments include recent
first place finishes at the
Rolex China Sea Race 2008
and the 16th President’s
Cup Regatta.
Last March 2007, Frank
Pong’s 75 feet Rachel-Pugh,
Jelik won the 15th Presi-
dent’s Cup IRC Racing
Division, Judes Echauz’s
Subic Centennial came
in second and 3rd was
Australian Ray Roberts’
Quantum Racing.
Racing
Other local boats
expected to add spice
to the Boracay compe-
compe
tition include: Manila
Yacht Club’s Racing
Committee Chairman
George Hackett on his
J-35, Jo de Ros; MYC Past-Commodore Ray
Ordoveza on his 53-foot Karakoa and MYC
Past-Commodore Claudio Altura’s J-35 Vivaldi.
There will be 15-20 foreign-based yachts
expected to complement the 15 or so local
yachts participating in this annual event.
For more information please call the
President’s Cup Regatta Secretariat:
Tel: (632) 526-7868
email: race@manilayachtclub.org
www: www.manilayachtclub.org/
www.standard-insurance/sailing/
http://www.sailing.org/rrs
©2008 Bernard Destrubé
The 13th Asian Sailing
Championship
By Medy Fidel, PSA Coach
O rganized by the Indonesia Sailing
Federation, the event was held 7-13
October 2008 in Turtle Island, Ser-
angan, Sanur Bali, Indonesia. The PHI
Sailing Team’s participation was
excellent competition exposure,
with sailors from China, Chinese
Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, UAE
and Kazakhstan. Governed by ISAF
rules, Asian Sailing Federation
(ASAF) rules and participating class
rules covered these events:
✦ MEN: Optimist, Laser 4.7, Laser
Standard, RSX, Mistral OD LW &
Mistral OD HW.
✦ WOMEN: Optimist, Laser 4.7,
Laser Radial, RSX & Mistral OD.
✦ OPEN: Hobie 16, Int’l 470 & 420.
PHI sailors who performed well in
previous SEA Games were entered
in the International 470, Interna-
tional 420 and Hobie 16 events.
Joining Laser 4.7 and Optimist
events were sailors born on/after
1991, part of PSA’s preparation for
the 2009 Asian Youth Games and
the 2010 Youth Olympic Games,
both to be held in Singapore. As
extra exposure to help Youth Team
preparation, a sailor was entered
in the Laser Standard.
continued aft
2008 Holiday Issue
Asian Sailing Champs...
Team Events. Previous Hong Kong competi-
tion warm-up bore fruit as Int’l 420 PHI Team
1’s Emerson Villena and Lester Troy Tayong’s
sterling performance won the championship,
scoring 13 points after 12 races and placing 2nd
overall. PHI 420 Team 2’s Emanuel Amadeo and
Ashly Escalante did not perform well. The team’s
first international exposure included a distress-
ing practice session incident when they got too
close to the reef, went out of control and were
capsized by large waves, breaking mast and
ripping sails. Unfamiliarity with strong current
and wave also took its toll.
Outnumbered in the Int’l 470 Class by
archrival Singapore Teams 1 and 2, a ferocious
battle awaited PHI 470 Team’s Ridgely Balladares
and Rommel
Chavez. The 470
Team used past
experience tactics
to run the Singapo-
Singapo
rean gauntlet, while
maintaining the
lead. The PHI 470
Team won the
championship by 5
points over the SIN
Men’s Team and 7
points over the SIN
Women’s Team.
Meanwhile, the new Hobie 16 arrived too
late in Bali. This left PHI Hobie team’s Rafael
Buitre and Richly Magsanay barely a full day for
boat set up, testing and adjustment The practice
race was the only time they could observe boat
speed versus competition, with no time to re-
test adjustments. Boat tuning continued daily
post-race. By the conclusion of 12 races, optimal
tuning was still not quite satisfactory.
Single-handed Events. Competitors were
as good or more experienced in the single-
handed boat classes. Junior PHI sailors needed
time to adjust to different conditions, learning
new things everyday. Adding difficulty to the
course were big waves and strong current. The
more inexperienced PHI sailors were dismayed
when overtaken by boats riding following
waves, and were perplexed at how to harness
the same techniques. Others were frustrated
after leading in rounding the windward mark,
then losing the lead on the downwind leg or
losing places in the beat to windward from
selecting the less favored side of the course.
Conclusion. Team Philippines’ performance
in the 13 th Asian Sailing Championship was
a big success for the Philippine Sailing Asso-
ciation; the first time we’ve reached
this position. Awarded
3 rd Best Team overall
and beating powerhouse
Singapore was indeed a
wonderful achievement!
the manila y acht club 2351 roxas blvd.manila philippines p.o.box 1085
www.manilayachtclub.org
F I R S T H A N D
Baby Steps: the PHI SKUD 18
team in the 2008 Paralympics
By Cherrie Pinpin, PHI SKUD crew
Tense and alert, Pedro and I aboard the PHI
SKUD tested the start with 10 other SKUDs in
the pre-start swarm of 60+ boats on Paralym-
pic Sailing Course A, a huge change from Manila
Bay solo practice on Judes Echauz’ customized
Flying 15. The 2.4mRs, coach boats, Race Com-
mittee yacht, spectator ferry, technical director,
race management, medical classifiers, rescue
and media boats milled about pre-countdown.
SKUDs took off first, then the 2.4mR fleet after.
Pedro and I qualified the Philippines for the
Paralympic SKUD event during the March 2008
IFDS 2-Person Keelboat World Championships,
Singapore. Coach Rico Albeso, PSA Nat’l Coach
and Claudio Altura, Sailability Philippines Presi-
dent completed the team. Warm welcome 2nd
Sept. by officials from the International Founda-
tion for Disabled Sailing, ISAF, Sailability and
friends helped boost morale. Paraw fisherman
and severely disabled sailor Pedro Sollique was
helm. Least disabled sailor and female crew, I
trimmed 3 sails from the forward seat. SKUD
class rules required an SDS and 1 female.
The SKUD 18, the 2-person keelboat made
its 2008 Paralympic debut joining 2 other keel-
boats–the 2.4mR single-person and Sonar 3-
person keelboat, all 3 classes sailed in 41 boats
by 80 sailors from 25 countries in the biggest
Paralympic Sailing competition ever held. The
only Paralympic-class keelboat with a spinnaker,
organizers opted for national
©2008 IFDS
flag spinnakers with cost
mostly subsidized by China.
SKUD teams covered their
$1000 balance. The PHI team
were in a bind though. How to
request funds when the Philip-
pines didn’t own a SKUD?
An anonymous Australian
had heard about our urgent
need, and generously donated
the Philippine SKUD spinnaker.
Bless the man! He saved the PHI team entry,
without which we were barred from competi-
tion. IFDS Technical and organizers expedited
details of SKUD and coach boat chartered from
the Chinese team, to get us into the water
faster. Chris Mitchell, SKUD 18 designer, taught
how to properly prepare our SKUD. We had 3
days practice on Fushan Bay, with 11 races in 5
days planned for the SKUD fleet.
Despite all our effort, the competition
showed why they were the crème de la crème.
These fellow disabled sailors’ resolve, sacrifice
plus time on water–sailing from childhood,
comprehensive elite SKUD training with able
bodied national teams and consistent perform-
ance in key worldwide Paralympic-class keel-
boat competitions, tune-ups in the
quest for Paralympic Gold. USA
SKUD helm Nick Scandone* with
ALS, a progressive neurodegenera-
tive disease and weakest sailor of
the entire fleet won the Gold,
proving sailors with severe disabili-
ties can compete on a level playing
field. Crew Maureen McKinnon-
Tucker became the first woman to
win a Paralympic Sailing Gold. We
were honored to represent the
country in this amazing drama-
filled, historic race.
Though our performance still
needed vast improvement, officials,
coaches and the competition had
noted our earnestness, tenacity,
gains made and told us not be
disheartened. We were encouraged
to spend more time on the SKUD.
Everyone started at the bottom,
but with diligence, support and
determination our stars would rise
too. “We’re delighted the
*Paralympic Gold Medalist Nick Scandone passed away 2 Jan 2009, after a long battle with ALS. He will be greatly missed.
Philippines joined us here
and we expect to see you
in the next Paralympics.”
“Take baby steps before you can run,”
I noted. Sailing in the 2008 Beijing
Paralympics was a fantastic oppor-
tunity as springboard into elite-
level racing in preparation for the
London 2012 Paralympics.
Our heartfelt thank you
to everyone for believing
in our dream: MYC and
Sailability PHI board mem-
bers, staff and boatyard folk,
for body/mind/soul nourish-
ment plus fueling develop-
ment of Philippine disabled
sailing • Judes Echauz for
lending customized Bam-
bino, the Flying Fifteen • Our
AUS donor, whose timely
and compassionate spinnaker dona-
tion allowed the PHI team to compete
• Coach Rico Albeso, for patient
coaching • Claudio Altura, team
enabler/manager • George Hackett,
for much appreciated UK Halsey
Sailing gear and for excellent Rudy
Project polarized lenses. Also access to
Rudy Project, technical sunglass spon-
sor • PHILSPADA-NPC Phils., for Para-
lympic support • Swordfish, for UV-
protected rashguards that made us
feel like winners • James and Fifi, our
wonderful resourceful Qingdao liaison
officers • Lastly, our
families who kept
things real.