Two fishermen from barangay Mariki paddled their way to the grand prize in this year’s Regatta, a vinta sail race highlighting day 5 of the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival 2019, Sunday, October 5.

Frankie Apalad and Abibasar Asmad bested over 200 other vinta operators and went home with P30,000 cash prize, P10,000 worth of gift certificates, a vinta outboard motor and tee-shirts after the exciting and colorful vinta sail race at the R.T. Lim Boulevard.

As in the past, the Regatta drew crowds of people from all walks of life making the event as one of the well-attended Hermosa Festival event organized by the City Government in honor of Nuestra Señora La Virgen del Pilar, the city’s patron saint whose feast day will be on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Taking second place were Muktar Cuya and Patta Isnang of Sinunuc with a P12k cash prize; 3rd place were Pascual Wade and Jade Wade with P10k cash prize; 4th place – Jun Ambang and Ben Ambang of Taluksangay with P7k cash prize; while 5th place went to Faisal Baihalki and Jopot Kamlum of Kasanyangan with P5k cash prize.  Omar Ladja of Sinunuc, the perennial Regatta winner won the Best Vinta Design special award with a P5k cash prize.  

District II Cong. Mannix Dalipe added P10,000 and Coun. Khymer Olaso augmented P5,000 for the first prize of P15,000 originally set by the city government. Olaso also added P2,000 for the special prize originally set at P3,000.

All the winners received gift certificates from Shop-o-Rama Department Store and outboard vinta motor each and tee-shirts courtesy of Honda Phil., Unique motors and Safety Enterprises. Non-winners in the final round got P3k each while those who joined the elimination rounds got P1k as consolation prize each.

Mayor Beng Climaco, who, together with other city officials graced the event, thanked the sponsors, the security forces, volunteers and all others that helped make Regatta 2019 a huge success.

Meanwhile, a capability demonstration by the Navy, Air Force and Army combined capped the Regatta at the Boulevard.

The simulation event, now on its third year, was a kidnapping rescue drama and showcased the Navy’s assets that can be deployed in times of emergency.

The Regatta was followed by the Wow Sardinas Grand Boodle Fight, a sardine-eating spectacle also held at the R.T. Lim Boulevard. (Sheila Covarrubias)