17th President's Cup 2009
AY Pre-Race Report

Heaven on earth in the Philippines
Boracay is a fantastic tropical island getaway surrounded by crystal clear blue water with a breath-taking stretch of powdery white sandy beach to enjoy all forms of water sports. Race headquarters is at the spacious Sea Wind Resort that has a bar and pool fronting onto the main beach and caters for exquisite groups of people. Two days ago a wedding was conducted on the beach and reception in a marquee specially erected for the occasion. Anything can be organised here as resort staff seem to take it in there stride to please everyone.

Racing for the 17th President's Cup gets underway tomorrow. Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi Fi have been in devastating form lately, is joining the racing class further bolstering the 50ft plus racers and will set the precedent for others to gauge themselves by. After disruptions to the usually strong weather pattern it is starting to get back to normal over the coming days. This will also become a determining factor in the results whether it suites the big boats or becomes a small boat regatta. Courses are a mixture of passage races around neighboring islands and windward/leeward races that will be chosen each day according to wind conditions. After winning the Boracay Race, Bill Bremner and Andy Cocks TP52 Foxy Lady IV are riding on cloud nine and hope to carry on there success into the President's Cup. Frank Pong's R/P 75 Jelik won here quite convincingly last time it was run here when the breeze consistently stayed around the 20 knot mark. If light conditions prevail Ray Ordoveza expects his Excel 53 Karakoa to be in the thick of things and defending President's Cup champion Ernesto Echauz's Sydney 46 Subic Centennial cannot be discounted.

The Cruiser/Racer class has Peter Killip's chartered BH36 Sandaway, Alan Burrell's Farr 1104 Rags and after missing the Boracay Race, Roland Buser's Sydney 38 Stella joining in, to make it a solid 12 entrants competing this year. George Hackett's J-35 Team Windshear Rudy Project is the defending champion from Subic Bay but will have to adopt a new strategy if the wind picks up to defend the title. After being left at the cab rank during the Boracay race, Jun Avecilla's Beneteau First 36.7 Selma Star are looking to rebound over the short courses where performance takes precedent over luck. Some boats chose to join the racing class during the Boracay race but as they drop down to the racer/cruiser class have ruled themselves out of the combined class trophy. Having the benefit of racing here last time Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings from Singapore are back by popular demand and will be one to watch. Most boats in this class fall within the 35 to 40 foot range and exceptionally close racing is expected with several past President's Cup and Boracay Race champions amongst the entry list. At 45ft Martin Tranco's X 452 Challenge is the exception and after winning the Boracay Race are on a roll. Second placed Paul Bankowski's Kerr 11.3 Jaywalker is down from Hong Kong and capable of a big performance.

The PY class is loosing Slalom Blade but gaining David Wheeler's Freewheeler from the UK and Jelle Mann's Saipin into the fold. They will have to get up to speed quick as David Mc Kenna's Sun Odyssey 42 Raparee XXX and Capt Rainer Blum's Celestial 49 China Rose have had the benefit of racing in light winds for the last sixty four hours.

Boracay Race & Presidents Cup Photo Gallery at: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?BoracayPC09

Online President's Cup - AY Race Reports with photos can be accessed from:
Race Report 4 & Summary, Overall Results: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/8.htm
Race Report 3: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/7.htm
Race Report 2: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/6.htm
Race Report 1: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/5.htm

Online Manila to Boracay - AY Race Reports with photos can be accessed from:
Race Report 3 & Complete Results: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/3.htm
Race Report 2: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/2.htm
Race Report 1: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/1.htm
Pre-Race Report: http://asianyachting.com/news/BoracayPC09/0.htm

AY Race Reports are proudly sponsored by the following advertisers.

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