Stone Skimming Championship Winners 2012

Image Courtesy: David Kershaw

This year will mark the second running of the International Stone Skimming Championships in Romblon town, Romblon, Philippines. Scotland has long been the ancestral home of International Stone Skimming Championships but now it has a challenger that aims to offer competition at least as good and possibly surpassing the founders, by virtue of its more exotic location.

What is stone skimming (ducks and drakes or stone skipping)? If you hold a roundish, flattish stone in your hand, with your index finger curled around the circumference, and flick your wrist just the right amount then the stone will spin upon release. If you simultaneously catapult your arm in a horizontal arc at just the right height above the surface of calmish water, the spinning stone will bounce across the surface of the water. Too little spin, not horizontal enough or the wrong height, and water not calm enough, then the stone will simp

Hobie Sailing On Taal Lake

Image Courtesy: Taal Lake Yacht Club

Is sailing a Hobie 16 your thing? If you want to get into sailing Hobie 16s then February 2013 is the best time to do it in the Philippines. Starting with the Philippine Hobie National Championships at the beginning of the month in Iloilo (open to anyone on the planet who knows how to sail a Hobie 16) and ending with the Philippine Hobie Challenge along the Zambales coast, starting from Candelaria, Zambales.

In case you did not now . . . a Hobie 16 is a fast sailing catamaran just 16 feet long. It is designed to be sailed by two people at extreme speeds (assuming the wind is favorable), although it is possible to sail it slowly as well. The spiritual home of Hobie 16 sailing in the Philippines is the Taal Lake Yacht Club, an hour South of Metro Manila on the shores of Taal

Competitive Sailing In Puerto Galera

Image Courtesy: Girlie Cervantes

For the first time in the club's history, the Puerto Galera Yacht Club will host a Chinese New Year sailing regatta with courses set across the Verde Island Passage. This new sailing event is designed to provide an alternative for both local and international yachtswo/men who would like to enjoy their vacation while sailing in the warm spring breezes along the Verde Island Passage, instead of in February's frigid waters around Hong Kong.

One of the challenges with gaining support from yacht and crews from outside the Philippines is the three to four day sail required to get here from Borneo, Taiwan or Hong Kong (longer from Singapore and Malaysia). In order to allow more sailors to join in the fun, local yacht owners are being encouraged to offer their boats for use during the Chinese New Year Regatta. This will be a first in the Philippines and, if it proves successful, will be repeated for other events in Puerto

Competitive Rowing On The Pasig River

Image Courtesy: Martyn Willes

The Philippines is slowly becoming the recognized venue for international sporting events and in particular, water sports events. For example: in December 2012 the holiday resort paradise of Boracay Island hosted the windsurfing RS:One World Championship; in 2013 the waters off Boracay's famous white-sand beach will be the venue for the Asian Moth sailing championships.

A lesser known water sport in Asia (particularly in the Philippines) is the sport of rowing. For the first time in its 70+ year history, the Philippines has been chosen as the 2013 venue for the ARAE-FEARA Regatta ("Amateur Rowing Association of the East" - "Far East Amateur Rowing Association"), running from 13th to 20th of January 2013 at Paoay Lake, Laoag, Ilocos Norte. The host organization for the event is the Manila Bo

Ryan Binidel and Sam Chan (left) match racing Flying Fifteens in Subic Bay

Image courtesy Martyn Willes

Subic Bay, 12th April 2012 – The first two of five Flying Fifteen class sailing yachts were launched at Watercraft Venture today for exhibition match racing event between international sailing champions Sam Chan and Neil Pride. The Flying Fifteens were donated to SAGS (Saturday Afternoon Gentlemen Sailors) by the Hong Kong Flying Fifteens Association in order to encourage young sailors from around the country to embrace the spirit of yachting and, in particular, to prepare them for competition in the Flying Fifteen Worlds, to be held in Hong Kong, 24th October to 7th November, 2013.

According to Ricky Sandoval of Watercraft Venture, these donated boats will provide the foundation for a reinvigorated Philippine Flying Fifteen Association fleet, with more boats to be added as soon as sponsorship from government and industry can be

Engineers off to survey wind turbine site

Image courtesy Martyn Willes

During the month of March, PhilCarbon has had a team of engineers in the field (literally) surveying for sites for Mindoro’s first wind farm in Bulalacao. An estimated 20MW wind power capacity may be installed in 2014 if the famous Bulalacao breezes check out.

Twenty sites are being surveyed in Bulalacao from which three will be chosen for a eighteen month wind analysis. A anemometer will be installed at the three best sites and the analysis of the wind data will dictate how many wind turbines can potentially be installed. According to Bulalacao Mayor Villas, “the wind turbines will be one of two renewable energy resources for Bulalacao . . . we are also seeking funding for a small hydro electric plant in one upstream location

Tri Bird airplane before sinking off Boracay Beach

Image courtesy Martyn Willes

Some three years ago a three–engine jet airplane suffered a heavy landing (only the airplane was hurt) at Caticlan airport – the closest airport to Boracay Beach. Unable to repair it with the facilities available at Caticlan and being unable to fly the aircraft out again without repair, the airplane waited patiently at the airport for a solution.

The Boracay Island Scuba Diving Association – an organization made up of all of the dive shops on the island – acquired ownership of the aircraft with the intent of sinking it off the reef, so that it may become a subterranean attraction for both marine life and scuba

Philippine Windsurfing Championship, Puerto Galera

Image courtesy John Smart

Every year in February, Puerto Galera traditionally hosts the second leg of the Philippine Windsurfing Championships on the waters off Boquete Beach. In 2012 the event will be expanded into the Puerto Galera water sports festival, to include all manner of wind–powered and human–powered water sports.

In addition to the windsurfing championships there will be competitive kite–boarding, dinghy racing and paddle banka racing and potentially dragon boat racing. The goal is to make February the on–water eco–water sports tourism festival month in Puerto Galera and to provide a vacation–extension for windsurfers and kite–boarders who usually travel to Boracay for the Funboard Cup in January and then have nowhere els