Ragamuffin sets pace in Subic-Boracay race

MANILA, Philippines - Syd Fisher’s Dubois 90 Ragamuffin, skippered by David Witt, set the pace in the seventh Standard Insurance Subic Bay-Boracay Regatta Race in Aklan yesterday.

Taking only 14 hours, 23 minutes, 17 seconds on the 220 nautical mile race, Ragamuffin bested the previous record set by Hong Kong magnate Frank Pong’s Custom Dibley 75 Jelik in 2013.

With its crew of 14, Ragamuffin led the fleet out of Subic Bay, where they dropped the spinnakers, turned left and enjoyed fast racing condition down through the Verde Island Passage.

All the regular competitors have actually recorded their fastest race times to Boracay, according to Ricky Sandoval, chairman of the organizing committee.

The seventh edition of the annual event drew boats representing Singapore, China, Germany, Malaysia, China, Australia and the Philippines with the overall winners in three class of the combined Subic Bay to Boracay Race and the Boracay Cup Regatta series receiving the hand-crafted solid brass trophy replicas by Fernando Cacnio, a multi-awarded Filipino visual artist.

The twin regatta races are backed by Sperry Topsider, Lighthouse Marina Resort, Cebu Pacific, PLDT-SMT Nation, Tanduay Rum, Watercraft Ventures Corp., Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce and Seawind Boracay.

Meanwhile, Aklan provincial officials welcomed participants and foreign guests of the only internationally acclaimed series of racing events in the country.

Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores and Vice Gov. Gabrielle Quimpo greeted the 18 participating regatta teams, led by last year’s winner Centennial III, that left Subic Bay last Saturday morning. The Boracay Cup resumes today  with a combination of passage and windward-leeward over the next four days.

Miraflores also cited the Philippine Sailing Association and the Subic Sailing Club for institutionalizing the twin races and making the province an important destination of the prestigious Asian Yatching Grand Prix.

Aklan, home of Boracay Island, contributes 30 percent of the tourist arrivals to the country and part of the unprecedented arrivals are the sailing enthusiasts, their families and crew to the island, according to Quimpo.