By Claire Morgan
Sailing in ideal conditions off the Philippines resort island of Boracay, Frank Pong�s 75-foot JELIK won the President�s Cup. The series was close until the end of the five-race series; JELIK had to fight off a handful of well-sailed smaller boats to protect her first-to-finish results.
JELIK gave notice to the fleet in the first race by winning by over six minutes on corrected time. The 30-mile, mostly reaching race allowed the big boat to stretch her legs. After the three windward-leeward coures in 20 knots of wind on the second day, JELIK hung in and was in a tie for first after two days of racing. She shared the top spot with the Sydney 46 CENTENNIAL.
Day three brought another distance race that was a figure-eight rounding Carabao and Boracay islands in 20 knots of wind. The boats faced tough conditions in the passage between the two islands as they fought the tidal chop � but the big boys took this all in stride and pounded through. JELIK favoring the long races managed to streak out ahead and once again took victory by an impressive margin.
The final day loomed and everything was still in play. The top spot was being battled for by CENTENNIAL and JELIK, with JELIK needing just one win to ensure victory. The final races were two windward-leewards. Race 5 was set and unfortunately it didn�t look good for JELIK. The race had short legs and JELIK was unable to stretch her legs and get into full swing � eventually placing fourth. Ray Robert�s DK46 QUANTUM RACING had a superb race and won followed by Neil Pryde�s HI-FI and CENTENNIAL. With the results still not giving a clear winner of the regatta, the final race was to be the decider. The course was re-set to be longer which ultimately allowed JELIK to get up to full speed and pull out a victory to secure the President�s Cup Regatta. And what a regatta it was, perfect wind, idyllic conditions and hard fought racing � who could ask for more?
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