Hobie Challenge sails idyllic isles of the Visayas

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,500 islands, and one of the best ways to explore is by sailing around the gorgeous islands, especially in the relatively unexplored central portion of the country.

This is exactly what sailors of the Philippine Inter-Island Sailing Foundation (Phinsaf) has been doing for 16 years now. Aboard the Hobie Cat, a 16-foot wind-powered twin-hulled sailboat, they have conquered idyllic islands in the Philippine Hobie Challenge, the country’s premier international extreme sailing event.

This year’s presentor, telecoms firm Cherry Mobile, took sailors from Cebu Yacht Club in Mactan Island to Paliton Beach in San Juan, Siquijor, covering 200 nautical miles of sun, sea and sand.

The annual sports adventure tourism event supported by the Department of Tourism draws the best Hobie Cat sailors around the world.

Australian couple Kerli and Ali Corlett bested 16 other teams to bag the overall championship. Competing in the Philippines for the first time, the couple has been sailing together for over 35 years and were Hobie Grand Master World Champions.

At 65, the duo known as Team Not Dead Yet edged compatriots and perennial winners Bruce Tardrew and Sarah Turnbull, and Fish Southwick and Sharon Rayner, who settled for second and third honors, respectively.

The Corletts also snatched the Sumilon to Balicasag Potato Corner Leg, and the Balicasag to Paliton Beach Leg to secure their top standing, outpointing the strong opposition posed by Southwick and Rayner who pocketed the Mactan to Cabilao Hobie Australasia / Rayomarine Leg and the Cabilao and Sumilon GoPro Leg.

Tardrew and Turnbull made a strong showing at the Paliton-Apo Island-Paliton Province of Siquijor Leg to cement their second place finish.

Michael Ngu and Boyet Magsanay of Team Cherry Mobile led the charge of Filipino sailors by placing fifth overall.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Rowdon and Rosie Phelan of Australia topped the Inshore Race Series, while the father-and-son pair of Diego and Monchu Garcia of the Philippines emerged top winner in the Fossil Cup, a handicap racing category.

“The Hobie Challenge has been promoting eco-friendly sports tourism for almost two decades across the archipelago through sailing. Cherry Mobile has partnered with Phinsaf to help bridge the island communities through mobile technology”, says Michelle Ngu, vice president of Cherry Mobile, a Fillipino-owned mobile phone and technology company.

In between sailing action, Cherry Mobile led community outreach activities in Balicasag Island in Panglao, Bohol as part of the Hobie Challenge’s corporate social responsibility program, one of the key components of the event. 

Sailors distributed school supplies, medical supplies, vitamins and medicine, sports equipment and solar lamps, water filters for clean drinking water courtesy of Waves for Water and first aid kits courtesy of Lifeline.