Sailboats Costing Less Than iPhones to Hold Championship Regatta

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Oz Goose Sailboat known in the Philippines as a sailboat that can be built for less than the price of an iPhone, of which, more than 50 have been built in the country will be holding the Oz Goose National Championships on November 3 and 4 at the Taal Lake Yacht Club in Talisay, Batangas.

Participants will be coming from as far as Cebu and Iloilo to participate in the regatta. As of press time 22 teams are confirmed to race Oz Geese in the two day event.

The popularity of the Oz Goose Sailboat came about through the efforts of the Philippine Home Boatbuilders Yacht Club (PHBYC) who have been seeking for ways to lower the barriers of entry to an activity well suited for the Philippine Islands; SAILING.

According to Roy Espiritu of PHBYC “Sailing has been perceived by Filipinos as an expensive and exclusive activity, when in fact, it doesn’t have to be. The Oz Goose sailboat fit perfectly in PHBYC’s grassroots sailing initiative, It is easy to build with locally available materials, it sails really well and is a great platform to learn how to sail. “ Mr. Espiritu said.

Boatbuilding materials sponsors Pioneer Adhesives, Polymer Products and Broadwater Marine who were tapped by PHBYC to help develop the Oz Goose fleet have pledged their support for the regatta. Batangas based corporate sponsor Lima Park Hotel will even be fielding teams to participate in the races, while Destileria Limtuaco, Globe MyBusiness, Isuzu Cavite are supporting the regatta as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.

The Oz Goose National Championships is expected to be one of the best attended one design class regatta the Philippines has ever seen. According to the boat’s designer, Batangas based, Michael Storer: “Racing sailboats is the best way to hone one’s skill as a sailor, we regularly race these boats in Taal Lake and several participants who only started sailing this year are excited to join the regatta either as crew or even as skippers.” Storer said.


About PHBYC

The Philippine Home Boatbuilders Yacht Club (PHBYC) is a local community of sailors, boaters and amateur and professional boatbuilders that help people get into boating and sailing economically through boatbuilding. Plans for building all kinds of boats are available online and the materials to build them are readily available locally. Established in 2006, PHBYC helps its members by giving advice on sourcing materials and boatbuilding techniques, all they ask in return is for people to pay forward what they’ve learned to help grow the fleet of homebuilt boats. Feel free to follow PHBYC’s facebook group page and theOpen Goose Sailing Boat Group.

The Oz Goose designed by Batangas based Michael Storer, the boat is known for ease to build and suitability as a sail training platform, here the sailboats are seen racing in Taal Lake. The Oz Goose sailboat will be having its national championships on 3-4 November in Talisay, Batangas