Luigi and Elle won the Quiksilver regatta, but that's not the real story this month. Without a doubt, the real acolades have to go to Art Pascua and Charlie Clement. These guys have been really aggressive about their sailing, and have continued to improve with every race.  Their aggressiveness is limited to the fun side of sailing though, and they remain 2 of TLYC's most liked guys. They are a fine example of the kind of sailors TLYC wants to produce. They have been eager to learn, and one thing nice about TLYC, everyone is willing to share speed secrets. So, we all keep getting faster. 

The competition in the top 3 slots in this regatta was, as usual, tight. Luigi Manzi, the national champion, had his hands full trying to beat off a two pronged assault.  

He not only had Art and Charlie to contend with, but if he ever blinked, Rex (blue jib), was there sneaking in from the other side!.  here, the boats are only seconds apart, as they go through a gate on the 5th leg of the course. 

  The picture at right, was taken about 5 minutes after the one above. Here you can see how  any slight slip up, a wide mark rounding, a slow gybe, and the comperition passes you again! Here Luigi has passed Rex again,  and Art and Charlie are there, breathing right down Rex's back!  A few seconds after this pic was taken, Art and Charlie slipped by Rex, and minutes later, finished second, behind Luigi. 

The racing was competitive from start to finish. The starts were fairly tight, showing the increased skill levels of the sailors, up from even just a year ago.  The scores show how Luigi won the first three races, but not how hard it was to win them. The last 2 races were the hardest fought. And Luigi lost both, to Art and Charlie. 

It was really nice to see Raul and Ichay Bulaong sailing together. It was even better to watch how these two windsurfers used their skills to keep their Hobie 16 perfectly balanced, and moving very fast. Hot on the heels of the three leaders, they were always ready to slip into the winners circle. 

 Here they set up to round the gybe mark, and they both pop out onto the wire in very clean fashion. Raul is driving the boat hard, with the nose way down to get maximum lift.   Art and Charlie should bask in their glory now, Because the new competition has got  them in their crosshairs! 

 
 And who is this? Vince Chua,and Gigi Lampa, with TLYC's chief instructor, Nestor Soriano. Gigi and Vince have moved up from the Topper lessons, into the Hobies.  They ARE racing. Nestor is giving them the basics on racing, like basic rules and starting signals. They did quite well according to Nestor, and we hope to see them out there more often.  Beginners have a division called "B" fleet.  Everyone starts there, but if you win too much , you get kicked out and thrown into "A" Fleet. 

 Ok, OK. The winner. Again. Yet another picture of Luigi. I'm so glad Mark is back from the UK.  Anyway, here is Luigi with his crew Elle Singson,  Art (of "Art and Charlie") and Carol Pablo, who crewed for Erwin this weekend. 

 The regatta would certainly be incomplete if we didn't mention this month's Sponsor, Quiksilver, and their Philippine distributor, Surf World.  Surf World has branches in Glorietta 4, and the Powerplant/ Rockwell. 
 

 The results of the Hobie racing are below, but there was Topper Racing this weekend too. find it at http://www.tlyc.com/hobie/quiktop.html 

 

Crew	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5		Total	Position
Luigi Manzi / Elle Singson	.75	.75	.75	2	3		7.25	1
Charlie Clement/ Art Pascua	3	3	2	.75	.75		9.5	2
Rex Puentespina, Bong Ereese	2	2	3	3	2		12	3
Raul Bulaong/ Ichay Bulaong	7	4	4	4	4		23	4
Noel Lim/ Ana Katigbak	5	6	6	5	8		30	5
Norman Jaravata/ Carol Pablo	6	5	5	7	7		30	6
Vince Chua/ Gigi Lampa	8	8	6	6	5		33	7
Peter Capotosto Leng Laysa	4	8	8	8	8		36	8

 

Written and Photographed by Peter Capotosto