ABW Dec 2023-1

Last weekend’s BPI Corregidor Cup started off the new BPI Private Wealth
Signature Yacht Race Series with an almost audible bang! Three days of
20kts breeze, 80% tropical sunshine, and the rich blue waters of the
South China Sea made it a guaranteed success.
It’s been a while since Sail-World Asia was covering a regatta in the Philippines,
and this excursion was welcome was welcome indeed. Certainly the concept
of BPI Series is a no-brainer – four regattas conducted among a small
selection of the 7,000+ islands that make up the Philippines, sponsored
by Bank of the Philippine Islands Private Wealth, the President and
CEO of which is herself a sailor (thank you, Tere Marcial) is a pretty
obvious hook-up as long as someone sees the potential.
The constituent parts of the Series – Corregidor Cup, Busuanga
Cup, Boracay 130 and Subic Bay Regatta – are all well-proven
events in their own right. It’s the putting them together as
a series that is the smart idea. “Over the last few years –
thanks in no small part to the covid thing – we have got
out of the habit of running regattas,” said PRO Jerry
Rollin, who has officiated at all the relevant events
before. “Time to get back on the horse, so to speak.
So thank you to BPI Private Wealth for providing
the leg up.”
Corregidor Island in the gate guardian to
Manila Bay, and has long been home to
military fortifications. These reached a peak
in WW2, with additional gun batteries on
the small nearby islands. The forbidding
bulk of Fort Drum (formerly El Fraile,
but fortified beyond recognition
starting in 1909), craggy Caballo,
and ‘chicken feather’ Carabao
are all now marks of the course
for the Corregidor Cup races.
There is heaps of history here,
not least the fortifications
on Corregidor itself which
are phenomenal.
The BPI Corregidor
Cup is based out
of Caylabne
Bay Resort &
Marina, a
delightful
2023
BPI Cor
Words by GUY NOWELL
Photographs by GUY NOWELL/BPI
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