FEATURES
Features
yachts and luxury motor yachts from everywhere to enjoy
unique Philippine hospitality and the beautiful club settings and
camaraderie. Nautical visitors invariably become fully involved in
the Club’s many sailing and social activities, and many of them
stay far longer than originally intended, with a significant number
of others just staying permanently!
The Club’s main activities include running a very popular bar
and fine-dining restaurant in a pleasant setting and relaxed
ambiance. The week’s highlights include the famous Friday
evening Grand BBQ—a weekly meeting place of local residents
of every nationality, together with weekend sailors from Manila
and globetrotting yachties and their crews staying on the
moorings. The Wednesday evening Curry Night is very popular
and attracts a similar clientele, and Sunday afternoon family
BBQ parties at the clubhouse have also become very popular.
Finally there are many other scheduled informal sailing races
at weekends, beach BBQs, swimming parties, dinghy sailing,
windsurfing, scuba diving, snorkelling and golfing activities
which make up the Club’s other activities.
The Club operates about 35 yacht moorings in the Puerto
Galera Bay (locally known as Muelle Bay) on behalf of owners,
ensuring they are constantly maintained to protect craft in
typhoon conditions. Some moorings are generally kept set
aside for visiting yachts.
The Club’s ‘Small Boat Training Program’ has been a
considerable success. It now has a fleet of about 25 sail training
dinghies—mainly Mirror Dinghies and Optimists. A scholarship
course for less-privileged children runs in conjunction with
local schools and not only teaches children sailing basics but
allows them to develop significant skills with free sailing practice
over extended periods. This programme receives significant
sponsorship from a number of benevolent organisations and
private individuals. The Club runs multiple sailing classes for
adults and children, and hosts sailing students from many
Manila schools and from elsewhere in Southeast Asia and the
Middle East—especially Dubai.
Four major sponsored regattas are held annually: the Christmas
Regatta, the Easter Regatta, the All Souls (Halloween) Regatta,
and the Chinese New Year Regatta. These regattas are very
popular and well attended with the All Souls Regatta being
by far the biggest regatta in the Philippines with well over 30
yachts. The Club maintains an active website and publishes a
monthly e-mail newsletter. The Club is best contacted through
details from its website—www.PGYC.org.
‘The Cruising Yacht Club of the Philippines’
Words Trevor De Silva, General Manager
Puerto Galera Bay is the holder of the coveted Les Plus Belles
Baies Du Monde award for being ‘One of the 10 Most Beautiful
Bays in the World’. This dramatically beautiful bay is the home
of the Puerto Galera Yacht Club (PGYC) also known as ‘The
Cruising Yacht Club of the Philippines’—and the Club organises
quite a number of popular competitive sailing regattas.
Puerto Galera is a small peninsula enclosing a beautiful lagoon
on the northern coast of Mindoro Island, which in turn is the
most nort