Centennial churns to victory

BORACAY – Centennial, a Sydney-made 46-footer proudly flying the national tri-color, celebrated a decade of excellence in the rough seas by ruling the premier class of the Manila-Boracay Race 2007, sailing triumphantly into the pristine waters of this island paradise shortly before dawn yesterday.

Skipper Ernesto Echauz and his crew, including seven national team mainstays, beat eight rivals for the IRC Racing Class championship in the event flagged off from Manila Saturday afternoon.

Singaporean Mumm 30-foot yacht Happy Endings made an impressive debut in the annual event, finishing a strong second. Karakoa, another fancied local boat, came in third, followed by four Hong Kong bets Mandrake, Freefire, Jaywalker and Ho Ho Ho.

Maiden Hong Kong of Frank Pong did not finish and Hummingbird of Adam Ng retired in the race covering 200 nautical miles and passing through coastal waters of Manila, Corregidor, Maricaban, Mindoro and Romblon.

It was a fitting victory for Centennial as it celebrated a decade of sailing and racing marked by great achievements, including a sweep of the Lipton Series on her launching in 1997.

"It was good sailing. We had fun although there was light wind that we had to practically stop for hours along the course," said Echauz on the latest conquest of Centennial and her crew led by Australian helmsman Jamie Wilnot.

With stops of about six hours in Corregidor and Mestre de Campo, Centennial submitted an elapsed time of 36:56:11 and a winning corrected time of 43:30:40. She negotiated the same course in only 22 hours last year.

Mandrake, a Mills 51-footer by Fred Kinmouth, clocked the fastest elapsed time of 34:44:32 but wound up fourth with a corrected time of 44:44:53.

The competing boats, totaling 28 including IRC 1 Class and PY Cruising Class bets, sailed off quite fast with the winds going around 10 notches in the Manila Bay Area Saturday afternoon.

Huge boats Karakoa, Mandrake and Freefire gained early headway but Centennial pulled abreast as they hit the northern most tip of Mindoro.

With the Centennial crew continuing to work with great coordination under overall cockpit manager Steven Tan, the multi-titled boat pulled away from the group by Sunday afternoon and went on to rule the prestigious event which was part of the eStandard Boracay Series sponsored by eStandard Insurance, Smart Infinity, American Express, Oakley, Suunto, Johnnie Walker, Fairways and Bluewaters, San Miguel Super Dry, Sea Air, Clinique, Asia Pacific Boating, Fragrant Harbour, Asian Yachting, The Philippine Star. Manifesto, Calibre Magazine and Crossover 105.1.

Also playing key roles for Centennial were co-helmsman Allan Baladares and trimmer Raffy Buitre. Both were bronze medalists in last year’s Southeast Asian Games.

"The key was coordination of the crew and making it sure that the boat was well prepared," said Echauz, president of the Philippine Sailing Association and co-chair of the eStandard Boracay Series.

Centennial has been one of the country’s premier racing boats the last 10 years, launched in style in 1997 by sweeping the Singapore Strait, Raja Muda (Malaysia) and Kings Cup (Thailand) races for the Lipton Cup. The same boat has also won the China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Manila.

With the IRC Racing Class on off-shore race in the bag, the Centennial team now looks forward to making its mark in in-shore races in the President’s Cup Regatta set tomorrow to Sunday in the Boracay waters.

"I think we have a good chance. But you’ll never know. Everybody’s concentrated in this year’s President’s Cup," said Echauz.