By AsianYachting MultiMedia 25:02:2019 Subic Bay, Philippines: Despite many wind direction and speed changes over the 200nm course, Geoff Hill's Smith 72 Antipodes, claimed Line Honours at 13:28:18, with an Elapsed Time of 25:28:18 but well outside the inaugural record of 22:54:09 they set last year. Never out of sight of each other, Ernesto Echauz's TP 52 Standard Insurance Centennial III finished at 13:53:53 and eclipsed Antipodes in the IRC stakes by 13 minutes. SI Centennial III led the way down to the Verde Passage but after a tacking duel approaching Verde Island, Antipodes came out on top and held on for the long run back home. A long wait before Ray Ordoveza's Excel 53 Karakoa crossed the finish line and closely followed by George Hackett's Mills 43 custom Misty Mountain. Check out the action in the AY Photo Gallery
The duelling leaders endured a Westerly sea breeze exiting Subic Bay, which turned South and South East down the coast and East in the Verde Passage. They had wind all the way and only briefly stopped when rounding Verde Island. Spinnaker and Code 0 rides all the way back and finished with the incoming sea breeze at the mouth of Subic Bay. At the late crew lunch/dinner, Ernesto Echauz said "It was very tiring and technical race in close company with Antipodes, but we held on and happy to take the overall IRC title"
When the sea breeze faded in the late evening, most the boats were on the way back and nearby the Manila Bay entrance, when Huey turned off the fan and the Northern region became engulfed in a wind hole. Which left the remaining yachts crawling along throughout the night, to finish in the early hours of the morning.
Despite having to anchor for a while, George Hackett's Mills 43 custom Misty Mountain came 3rd in the IRC overall stakes and claims 1st place in the Racing 2 class. Bobby Benares Beneteau 44.7 Sabad slots into 2nd place, while Albert Altura's Beneteau First 40 Hurricane Hunter retired on their first outing.
In the absence of a IRC certificate, Jun Avecilla's Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star and Michael Raueber's Swan 65.1 Emocean 1 have joined Stephen Wu Shifu's Oceanis 45 Asia Pacific Sailing in the Cruising class and after the arbitrary handicaps are applied, end up in the respective order.
Match Racing in the Far East 28R keelboats starts tomorrow on Tuesday and the Subic Bay Cup for keelboats on Wednesday through to Saturday 2nd March.
Results will be posted at http://www.subicsailing.com More on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/subicsailing/
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