2017 Royal Cargo All Souls Regatta Week
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Images courtesy: John Smart
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Royal Cargo All Souls Regatta Halloween fun!Unquestionably the largest yachting event in the Philippines each year, the 2017 Royal Cargo All Souls Regatta Week in Puerto Galera is shaping up to be the most fun you can have on the water at Halloween.
Upwards of thirty yachts are expected in 2017, competing for trophies of Tanduay rum in three classes: cruising, cruiser/racer and multihull. In the multihull class the event has already set a Philippine regatta record, with eight cruising multihulls already signed up.
The festival of sailing and fun kicks of with the All Souls Dinghy Regatta on the 28th and 29th of October. When you visit Puerto Galera during these two days you will see the fleet of 10 Optimist and 10 Lawin (Mirror lookalike) dinghies being raced by Puerto Galera school kids. The kids have all been through the yacht club’s Small Boat Program training scheme – offering free basic sailing courses to all Puerto Galera schools – and this annual competition is designed to identify the best sailors who may eventually represent the Philippines at international events, as part of the Philippine Olympic Sailing Team.
The Small Boat Program has already delivered the Philippine Olympic Sailing Team with five medal winning champion sailors, who have represented the country at events in Ireland, Australia, Singapore and Macau.
On Monday, the kids are treated to a sponsored mini-golf tournament at Puerto Galera’s Mini-Golf Club, adjacent to the yacht club.
Golf is on the menu on Tuesday also as the yacht club adult squad, along with visiting sailors, limber up at the Ponderosa Golf Club. This Ponderosa Golf Club is set high in the mountains overlooking Puerto Galera and offers the most spectacular views across the Verde Island Passage towards Batangas Bay. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, so take transport to the hill stop golf course and enjoy to excitement of holes-in-one and lost balls in the forest as only Ponderosa can deliver.
Wednesday and Thursday things get a little more serious with two tune-up, practice races, designed to allow (especially) visiting yachts and crew to discover the wind and tides that will become their challenges during the following three days of racing.
The Regatta Welcome Party, on Thursday evening, is a great place to meet the participants and to request a place aboard a yacht. The revelry may go on late into the evening, so be prepared for a thick head on the first day of racing.
The Royal Cargo All Souls Regatta 2017 starts in earnest with the skipper’s briefing at 09:00hrs on Friday, 5th November – this is your last chance to find a place aboard a yacht as all the skippers will be present for the meeting, in preparation for the first yacht starting at 10:30hrs.
If you want to get involved with the sport of sailing, but are not sure if it is as much fun as it is claimed to be, then you must join the Royal Cargo All Souls Regatta 2017 in Puerto Galera. If you feel the urge then there are yachts for sale here too.
This year’s All Souls Regatta is sponsored by Royal Cargo, with the support of: Hyde Sails, Broadwater Marine, Socolics, Tricom Projects, Philippine Retirement Authority, Tanduay Distillers and Rayomarine. The All Souls Dinghy Regatta is sponsored by: Lane Archive Technologies, Asian Tigers and Asian Terminals.
Proceeds from the regatta go to fund the yacht club’s Small Boat Program, for the benefit of Puerto Galera’s youth.
Find out more at the All Souls Regatta website