Puerto Galera Yacht Club Easter Regatta 2011
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Image courtesy John Smart
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The Puerto Galera Yacht Club Easter Regatta is one of the great traditions of Philippine sailing. For more than twenty years, sailing yachts have been celebrating the natural beauty and breezes of Puerto Galera and the Verde Island Passage, and gatherings of up to twenty boats enjoy an Easter weekend of awfully civilized sailing and parties.
In 2011 the PGYC Easter Regatta will also feature a two-day, competitive dinghy sailing event, concurrent with the three-day, yacht racing event. Dinghy sailors will have a choice of two-person Lawin dinghies and the single-seat Optimist dinghies.
The dinghy sailing regatta event will provide everyone with the chance to compete in the same Puerto Galera waters, off Boquete Beach, that are now famous for preparing DJ and Gabby for their victory in the 2010 Mirror Worlds Championship in Perth, Australia. DJ and Gabby, graduates of the PGYC Small Boats Program (a sail training program offered to local schools and funded by generous donations from members and industry), went to Australia as a part of a two-boat team entered by the Philippine Sailing Association. They won overall first place in the Silver Fleet and third overall in the Youth Division.
The yacht racing event will comprise point-to-point courses set across the Verde Island Passage. Specifically designed to allow all sizes and shapes of yachts (monohull, catamaran, trimaran) to compete on even terms, the courses introduce visiting yachts to the variety of islands and beaches that have made Puerto Galera one of the most popular destinations on any cruising route through the Philippine archipelago. If you have not sailed around Puerto Galera before then the Easter Regatta provides a fun introduction to the area, and the chance to win a bottle of wine or rum!
The yacht club encourages all visiting boats to take part in the racing events and offers a special cruising-boat handicap to compensate for the extra weight being carried. If you really don’t want to race your yacht then you can always get a place as crew on one of the yachts that does. But sailors enjoy the Easter Regatta as much for the camaraderie at the after race parties, made more enjoyable because everyone is expected to finish the race at the same time – this is pursuit racing at its very best.
Whether you are young or old, experienced or just know enough to be dangerous, the Puerto Galera Yacht Club Easter Regatta from 22nd to 24th April, 2011, offers something for everyone who enjoys the fun of competitive sailing or cruising with intent.
If you want to stay a few extra days in Puerto Galera then you need to know that, apart from the sailing, Puerto Galera is World famous for scuba diving and is well known for snorkeling, hiking, golf, birdwatching, kayaking and windsurfing. Puerto Galera is the only Philippine member of the UNESCO endorsed, ‘Club Of The Most Beautiful Bays In The World’.
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For more information visit the Puerto Galera Yacht Club website