Reichel/Pugh 76 Jelik paces Boracay Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Frank Pong’s Reichel/Pugh 76 Jelik dominated the start of the Boracay Cup Regatta 2014, scoring a treble by winning the line honors, IRC overall and the Racing Class title in Boracay last weekend.

After nailing the start line, Reichel/Pugh 76 Jelik reached all the crucial points at the right time to seize control early over the three TP52’s of Ernesto Echauz Standard Insurance Centennial skippered by Ridgely Allan Balladares, Troy Yaw’s newly acquired Ulumulu captained by Jeremy Koo and Sam Chan’s Freefire handled by sailing master Russ Parker.  

The big start thus gave Jelik a solid start in the combined series. In the final few miles to the finish, Standard Insurance Centennial managed to escape the parking lot in front of the other TP52’s to claim second place.  

Defending champion Ray Ordoveza’s Excel 53 Karakoa finished last in the class and dropped to third after the handicaps were applied.

The TP52 battle went down-to-the-wire with Freefire edging Ulumulu by one minute, 20 seconds at the finish line, only for the positions to be reversed by six seconds after the IRC ratings were applied.

In the IRC Cruiser/Racer Class, Martin Tanco’s Sydney 46 Centennial II coasted to the top spot almost a whopping five hours in front of Bobby Benares Beneteau First 44.7 Sabad.

Jun Avecilla’s Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star and Bobby Benares’ Sabad, meanwhile, took different lines through the Verde Island Passage and came back together at Dumali Point.

This resulted to Avecilla’s Selma Star sailing up to their IRC rating and eclipsing Tanco’s Centennial II by a little over three minutes for first place. Simon Carpenter’s Elan 310 Giant Cod placed third and Bobby Benares Sabad slipped to fourth.

In the combined IRC Overall stakes, Jelik and Standard Insurance Centennial took the top two posts but Jun Avecilla’s Selma Star big effort in the Cruiser/Racer Class netted them third place.

Martin Tanco’s Centennial II ended up fourth in front of Ray Ordoveza’s Karakoa in the Racing Class.

The heavyweights in the PY Class found the light going difficult to handle after 49 hours at sea.