BPI Corregidor Cup 2023
by Guy Nowell, Asia Editor 23 Nov 2023 05:02 UTC
16-19 November 2023
Starry Night. BPI Corregidor Cup 2023 © Guy Nowell / BPI
Last weekend’s BPI Corregidor Cup started off the new BPI Private Wealth Signature Yacht Race Series with an almost audible bang! Three days of 20kts breeze, 80% tropical sunshine, and the rich blue waters of the South China Sea made it a guaranteed success.
It’s been a while since Sail-World Asia was covering a regatta in the Philippines, and this excursion was welcome was welcome indeed. Certainly the concept of BPI Series is a no-brainer – four regattas conducted among a small selection of the 7,000+ islands that make up the Philippines, sponsored by Bank of the Philippine Islands Private Wealth, the President and CEO of which is herself a sailor (thank you, Tere Marcial) is a pretty obvious hook-up as long as someone sees the potential.
The constituent parts of the Series – Corregidor Cup, Busuanga Cup, Boracay 130 and Subic Bay Regatta – are all well-proven events in their own right. It’s the putting them together as a series that is the smart idea. “Over the last few years – thanks in no small part to the covid thing – we have got out of the habit of running regattas,” said PRO Jerry Rollin, who has officiated at all the relevant events. “Time to get back on the horse, so to speak. Many thanks to BPI Private Wealth for providing the impetus.”
Corregidor Island in the gate guardian to Manila Bay, and has long been home to military fortifications. These reached a peak in WW2, with additional gun batteries on the small nearby islands. The forbidding bulk of Fort Drum (formerly El Fraile, but fortified beyond recognition starting in 1909), craggy Caballo, and ‘chicken feather’ Carabao are all now marks of the course for the Corregidor Cup races. There is heaps of history here, not least the fortifications on Corregidor itself which are phenomenal.
The BPI Corregidor Cup is based out of Caylabne Bay Resort & Marina, a delightful Marcos-era hideaway, two hours by car from metropolitan Manila, that somehow got forgotten, but is now undergoing a substantial programme of renovation and resuscitation. It’ll be fab when it’s finished.
Racing out of Caylabne Marina is nothing if not relaxed. With the start line a mere 0.5nm from the breakwater entrance, there’s time for breakfast on the lawn at Kites & Sails, a cup of coffee, and a leisurely stroll to the pontoon. All regattas should be like this! With a steady daytime breeze from 030° , most of the course legs were fetches and reaches. The spinnakers came out to get boats down to Carabao, and down the other side of Corregidor where tide-against-wind made for some very feisty sailing for the IRC Racing class, while the Cruisers and Multihulls contented themselves with the Caballo-Carabao-Drum triangle and one visit to Monja.
Six boats contested the Racing class, with Ray Ordoveza’s venerable Karakoa, an Andrews 53, giving away the years as she displayed her pedigree off the line at top speed and led the fleet from wire to wire in every race. “She’s a bit of a freight train these days,” said Ordoveza, neglecting to include the word ‘express’. George Hackett’s Mills 43, Misty Mountain, and Jun Villanueva’s elegant Ice 52, Belatrix, did their best to hang on to her coat tails, but it was never going to be easy. It was close racing: after five races, second to fifth places were separated by just one a point each.
The Cruising division fielded four boats, and looked rather like an advert for Groupe Beneteau, with two Jeanneaus and two Beneteaus to make it something of a derby match. James Villareal’s Oceanis 41.1, Wild Honey, and Rene Ticson’s Sun Odyssey 42, Papaya II, shared all the wins and second places, wrapping up the series with 8 points each and a countback, and the honours going to the former with three bullets. Neither of the two Multihulls dominated, so Tututango (Roman Azana, Fountain Pajot 40) and Carino (Monchu Garcia, Leopard 40) finished just one point apart.
The BPI Corregidor Cup 2023 wound up with a glorious sunshine lunch on the grass at Kites & Sails, the handing out of the sparkling prizes, and then it was all over in a heartbeat. If there was ever a reason to gear up for the next event in the BPI Signature Series (Busuanga Cup, 25-28 January 2024) it’s the delightful success of the opener. Here’s looking forward to Punta Fuego and the race to Busuanga Bay next year.
Full Results
IRC Racing
1. Karakoa 1,1,1,1,1 (5)
2. Belatrix 5,2,6,2,2 (17)
3. Joyride 4,3,2,5,3 (17)
4. Misty Mountain 2,4,4,3,6 (19)
5. Selma Star 3,6,3,4,4 (20)
6. Hurricane Hunter 6,5,5,6,5 (27)
IRC Cruising
1. Wild Honey 1.2.1.1.3 (8)
2. Papaya II 2,1,2,2,1 (8)
3. Isabelle 3,4,3,3,2 (15)
4. Starry Night 4,3,5,5,5 (22)
Ocean Multihulls
1. TutuTango 2,1,1,2,1 (7)
2. Carina 1,2,2,1,2 (8)