Lake Buhi bets stun Army in Cobra Regatta

MANILA, Philippines - Lake Buhi finally showed up fancied Army with a stunning come-from-behind win to cap the first leg of the 2013 Cobra Energy Drink Dragon Boat Regatta at the Manila Bay overlooking the Baywalk along Roxas Blvd last weekend.

Deprived of victory in last year’s fourth leg because of an infraction, the squad of fishermen and farmers living around Lake Buhi, Camarines Sur rallied in the last 20 meters to surge past the fading Army bets in narrowly ruling the men’s 300-meter Open division.

With only three days of practice, the Bicolano paddlers checked in with a time of one minute and 19.52 seconds in relegating the Army rowers, most of them members of the triumphant squad in the 2011 IDBF world championship in Tampa Bay, Florida, to second place (1:19.9).

Buhi-Camsur placed third (1:25.54) while Philippine Coast Guard (1:30.05) was fourth in the opening leg of the series sponsored by Cobra Energy Drink and organized by the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation.

“The accomplishment of the Lake Buhi squad shows that there are strong dragon boat rowing potentials outside Metro Manila and we are proud that our event has been a means of discovering these talents,” said Cobra senior brand assistant Karlene Sebastian. 

Triton A captured the women’s Open division in 1:40.28 with PCG (1:41.27) and RCP Sea Dragon (1:49.05) placing second and third, respectively, in the competition also backed by the Manila Sports Council.

PCG captured the mixed standard championship (1:24.96), followed by Triton A (1:26.18) while Manila Ocean Park was third (1:27.07) in the series that has grown in popularity since Cobra, the official energy drink of the PDBF, began supporting it four years ago.