PUERTO GALERA — The Puerto Galera Yacht Club announces the dates for the 2017 All Souls Regatta: the largest annual yachting event in the Philippines. The 2017 All Souls Regatta will be held on Nov. 3-5.
The Puerto Galera Yacht Club is expecting at least 35 yachts to participate in this year’s All Souls Regatta, up from 32 entries last year.
According to Club Commodore, Jurgen Langemeier, “initial indications are that we may have as many as 40 yachts this year but we are really just happy that the event grows every year.
“We have strived to provide simply the most fun yacht racing and the best parties on the planet around Halloween and as the news slowly filters through the yachting community more arrive each year from all corners of the World.
“It is good for Puerto Galera, good for the Philippines and good for the sport of sailing.”
The largest yacht in the fleet is expected to be the elegant, 70-foot Andrews, Bella Uno, while the smallest is likely the 26-foot, Folkboat, Aniko.
Every year a handful of yachts are offered for visiting crews to rent and this regularly attracts teams from Hong Kong, Japan and other nations, making the All Souls Regatta a truly international sailing event that promotes the beauty of the Philippines and the opportunity that the country offers for the sport of sailing.
There is no other event that makes sailing more fun in the Philippines than the All Souls Regatta in Puerto Galera.
Our regattas are unique in the Philippines as we use Pursuit Racing format, which means that the theoretically slowest boat starts first and the fastest boat starts last, following the theory all boats should finish simultaneously. The winner is the first boat to cross the finish line. The trick is to catch the boat in front while staying ahead of the boats coming up behind — excitement all the way!
From start to finish, a true test of seamanship: knowing your boat, helming, sail handling, trimming, team work and knowledge of the wind and tides.
The All Souls Regatta was first organized in 2004 and has been the main attraction on the Philippine yacht racing calendar ever since. One of the reasons that the regatta is so popular is because the All Souls Regatta usually enjoys the first of the cooler, northeast monsoon breezes that slowly progress down the country from mid-October. It is typical to have eight-18 knots of easterly breeze along the Verde Island Passage around Halloween and Puerto Galera is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these perfect sailing conditions.
The second most important reason for the success of the All Souls Regatta is that the post-race parties have become legendary in there own right, with cultural shows, fancy dress parties, great food and music under the stars; some teams spend weeks preparing for the fancy dress party.
Visitors without yachts can now fly daily direct from Manila to Puerto Galera by seaplane.
The 2017 All Souls regatta is a sponsored event and sponsors are signing up, almost one a week. So far the major sponsors are: Royal Cargo, Tricom Projects, Philippine Retirement Authority, Socolics and Broadwater Marine. Watch out for our sponsors update in a couple of weeks time to see who has joined the party!
