Maligaya sets sailing record

Maligaya, a Swan 80 yacht skippered by owner Andy Soriano, recently set the inaugural 203-mile Standard Insurance Manila to Boracay Passage Race record at 23 hours and 35 minutes.

The race, the longest and the most challenging race ever in the Philippine sailing scene, was arranged by the Manila Yacht Club.

Mandrake, Frank Fong’s 50-footer Hong Kong yacht, placed second, three hours behind Maligaya. Sydney 46 Subic Centennial, skippered by Standard Insurance president Judes Echauz, finished barely 11 minutes behind.

"Surfing at a speed hitting 18 knots we had our spinnaker sail up for six hours before reaching Boracay," Echauz of Subic Centennial said.

Similarly, Martin Tanco, skipper of the fleet’s smallest yacht, Yasdip, said they were doing close to 8 knots, the fastest ever that the yacht had done, aided by wind speeds of 25 to 35 knots down the east coast of Mindoro.

The 36-footer Viking Express, skippered by Asian Development Bank excutive Mineo Maruyama, won the overall honors under the IRC Racing Class or the ‘Kellet Island’ trophy donated by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

Present at the awards night at Seawind Resort were Malay, Aklan Mayor Ciceron Cawaling and the MYC Commodore Ildefonso Tronqued.

Under the local Portsmouth Yardstick System of handicapping, the overall winner for cruising class was Maligaya, which also won the Standard Insurance trophy for line honors. Subic Centennial navigator Tom Hofvenschiold won the Navigator award. Mandrake was awarded as the first foreign boat to finish the passage.

Other top three finishers winners: IRC racing class – Sandoway (skipper Allan Burrel), Subic Centennial Maligaya (Division A). Viking Express, Richard Morris’ Salina, Yasdip, Division B.

PYS– Viking Express Maligaya, Sandoway (Division A); Judge skippered by Dirk Van Straalen, Yasdip Lhayas (special citation), Division B.