“There will be wind” was this scribes prediction 2-days before the race.  “Can I quote you on that” came the SMS text message from Hong Kong.  Looking at the storm track gif, I felt pretty secure that the Hong Kong sailors would not be disappointed if they flew down for the 7th Philippine Hobie 16 National Championship. 

And yes it blew.  Allan Burrell stood next to his fully rigged new hobie on Saturday morning before the first race. He said, “I think this is just too much for Suzie and me today”.  As he started to de-rig his boat, the Hobie next to him blew over! 

Eric Tomacruz went out for a trial run and came back asking, “is it legal to have 3 people on a hobie instead of 2?”  The answer: “Yes.” 

And so it was that he sailed with three that day. And, as you can see, he probably made the right choice! 
Someone else said, “Isn’t this too much wind to race in?”  The answer, “That’s why this is the National Championship.” 

Just getting to the start line was a challenge for the first race, not only was it strong, it was gusty.  Capsized boats provided additional carnage that we had to sail through at the start. 

Last Years Champion, Nestor Soriano, and his new crew, Raul Bulaong, (pink and white sail) managed to avoid the carnage nicely. They were sailing for the first time together. So although they started off fairly well, as seen here, the new duo managed only a 5th in the first race. 

The 2000 Philippine National Champion, Mark Haswell, and his crew Ana Katigbak, have been sailing competitively together for about a year, and the experience  paid off quite nicely. They grabbed the gold in the first race, and put the Hong Kong Champion Tong Shing and crew Caroline Heider away in a tough battle to the finish. 

Having just returned to the Philippines, after winning an exciting   "Round the Volcano" series last November, Tong is a force that we all respect, and its great to beat him. It was already a serious concern at the start of the Nationals, that the person who would win the Nationals might not even be a Philippine resident! 

During the "Round the Volcano" series, he sailed with Caroline 
for the first time, and won convincingly. Now he was back, and he and his crew would work together like a well oiled machine. As if that weren't enough, they had a new boat and new sails! A serious concern. 

Luigi Manzi, and Gia Veloso chalked up their first entry into the "magic 3".  Consistency in this regatta would pay big dividends. and a third in the first race in a series of 8 races, among 13 competitors, was a nice penny in the pocket. 

Race 2 turned into another struggle for survival on the course. The pressure was on, and the boats and crews were pushed to their limits.  About half the fleet crashed and burned in that race.  Just staying upright in the unusually gusty typhoon driven wind conditions, was proving to be a key factor. The boats were traveling so fast that even a 3 minute recovery time on the reaching leg meant that a competitor, half a leg behind, would be half a leg ahead if you capsized. 

It wasn't just the gust itself, but worse, a sudden lull would often precede the gust. It was getting common for the skipper to be out on the wire with the crew, and then a lull would come, sending both skipper and crew overboard to windward, and then the gust would hit as both were still in recovery mode. 

Coming around the bottom mark and starting up on the last beat to the finish, it was Nestor Soriano and Raul, battling it out neck and neck with Peter Capotosto and Nestor's daughter, Michelle. Both had managed to not push too hard, but now the pressure was really on. On the last tack into the finish, Nestor was ahead by only about 10 seconds. However, it was a clear win for him, because the finish line was only about 10 seconds away. 

Suddenly the lull came, Nestor fell into the water, their boat slowed, but Nestor was able to climb back on board and get the boat up to speed again. The two boats were only a few seconds apart, and nestor fell in again! This time permanently! Still ahead, Raul grabbed the helm and turned the boat into the finish line, still taking the first place horn. But it was to no avail. The rules state that a boat must finish with all crew still on the boat.  Peter and Michelle won the race. 

In second place, Luigi and Gia completed their second finish in the "magic three".  

As the smoke cleared, Eric Tomacruz with three on board, squeezed Tong Shing out of the running for race 2!  

Apparently, Tong Shing and Caroline had also gone for a swim in that race.  She told me later that she had never gone in before, so it took a long time for them to get it up. 

Crews came in after race 2 and it was getting pretty clear that the competition for the most number of capsizes was taking shape! Mark who managed only an 8th in this second race, after winning the first race, now had 2 under his belt. and most others had at least one. 

David Yourieff of Hong Kong asked me what I attributed my win to, and I told him that I decided before the start of the second race, that I would not go out on the trapeze, no matter how tempting it was. 

Conditions were the same in race 3. 
David decided it was too tempting. They were right up in second, battling it out with Tong Shing, when disaster struck. 

I was in third place, and saw the whole thing unfolding. Now, in second place about 3/4 of the way through the race, I had not heeded my own advice either. A bow burying experience on the reach, combined with the obligatory free catapult ride over the forestay saw the beginning of the end for any hopes for me in that race. We capsized three times in the regatta, twice during the third race. And those landed us a dismal 8th.

Noel looked in really good form as he blasted by me. He is one of the most helpful people in the fleet, and we are blessed to have him with us. Some regattas, like the Hobie Challenge, are a logistical nightmare, and its a  relief to know he'll be there.    

Tong Shing went on to win the race. 

Erwin Valdez took 2nd. Erwin just got booted out of B fleet, for winning his class in the Round the volcano regatta.  He showed us what his winning form looked like, as we spent the time swimming. 

Erwin has only been sailing for only a little over a year, but he's really serious and it appears that Nestor's "once a year " Intermediate Hobie course helped him a lot.  It looks as though he may be winning a few races this year with a performance like this.

Mark Haswell and pulled in a third, and we have to thank him and and Ana (and of course Noki) for what i think is the best picture of the whole regatta.

 
Note that all pictures are very degraded to make it possible for them to load on the internet. A disc of pics will be made available for sale soon, to defray the cost overruns of the regatta.
 
 
 

Taal Lake Yacht Club 
Hobie National Championships 2002 
Results 

Pos Class Sail No Crew Nat R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Pts Notes 
1st A 46 Luigi Manzi Italy 3 2 4 2 2 1 1 2 13 
2nd A 07 Nesto Soriano Philippines 5 DNF 6 1 1 3 2 1 19 
3rd A None Tong Shing HK 2 4 1 3 3 RAF 5 3 21 
4th A 105159 Mark Haswell British 1 8 3 5 5 6 4 4 28 
5th A 12 Peter Capotosto Philippines 6 1 8 4 4 2 8 9 33 
6th A 104669 Rex Puntaspina Philippines 4 6 11 7 7 4 6 8 42 
7th A 104995 David Yourief HK 9 5 5 11 11 8 3 5 46 
8th A 33 Erwin Valdez Philippines DNF 7 2 6 6 5 9 12 47 
9th A 04 Eric Tomacruz Philippines DNF 3 9 8 8 7 10 11 56 
10th A 104497 Charlie Clements Philippines 7 9 12 9 9 DNF 7 7 60 
11th B 74332 Monchu Garcia Philippines 10 DNF 10 12 12 10 13 6 73 
12th A 105178 Noel Lim Philippines DNF 11 7 13 13 9 11 10 74 
13th B 591/ Dennis Cruz Philippines 8 10 13 10 10 11 12 13 74 
 
 

Discard profile is 7,1. 
 
 

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