Backgrounder about PHBYC
The Philippine Home Boatbuilder’s Yacht Club (PHBYC) started a little under 10 years ago in a local Internet forum on sailing, by folks interested in boating and sailing on a budget. The Internet forum grew to become a virtual yacht club with members from all over the Philippines and around the world. As a virtual community, members help each other out with advice, tools, and even physical assistance on various stages of their respective boat building projects. Additional information about the club can be found on their website www.pinoyboats.org and their Internet forum which is a repository of knowledge and experience about wooden boatbuilding in the Philippines.
Other than the usual messabouts, participating in regattas and gatherings, in 2009 the group decided to put their knowledge and skills to good use to help spread the word about boating on a budget and growing club membership by organizing the country’s first ever family boatbuilding weekend (FBW) in Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC). The boat design that they chose was the Summer Breeze because of it’s ease of build and economical use of materials. The club has had several iterations of the FBW with varied levels of success using various boat designs.
PHBYC Community work
With the Philippines on the path of typhoons and tropical storms, the club has designed and donated boats to help locals affected by these natural disasters. After typhoon Ondoy dumped a month’s worth of rain in Luzon a matter of hours. Several areas were inundated by flood waters. One of PHBYC’s senior members Felix, designed the “bahangka” a simple, easy to build 4x8 boa to help in the relief efforts in shuttling personnel and material in and out of flooded areas. The club was able to secure, materials sponsorships, build venue, and personnel to build several of these boats and donated them to affected municipalities and relief organizations like the Red Cross.
When typhoon Haiyan hit the Central Philippines in 2013, thousands of fishing boats were destroyed. To help fishermen, Felix designed and alternative fishing boat that did not use an entire hollowed out log for the keel and was built mostly with plywood. With funding support from Felix’s friends, members of the club made boat kits for the fisher folk to assemble and replace boats that they lost to the typhoon.
FBW 2015
When small boat designer Michael Storer moved to the Philippines and developed the 12’ version of the Oz Racer, now called the Oz Goose, together with videos posted by Ian Henehan of one of the first Geese, this inspired PHBYC convenor Roy Espiritu to organize an FBW with the Oz Goose.
With help from sponsors providing essential materials like plywood, lumber, epoxy, paint, spectra and yacht braid lines and even sails, 10 new Oz Geese were built from kits by the participants. Oz Goose kits were made by Mik, PHBYC, Taal Lake Conservation Center (TLCC) and TLYC volunteers
With 14 Oz Geese now in the Taal Lake area, the design is now in position to be a popular one design racing class and best form of entry level sailing in a country where the only active racing class is the Hobie 16.
“The Oz Goose is great! It’s easy and inexpensive to build. in fact, materials to build one cost no more than an iPhone, it sails really well and is great for beginners, I recall Mik referring to the boat as “ridiculously stable”, according to Roy Espiritu of PHBYC
It seems apt that this month's FEATURED CLUB is the Phillipine Homebuilder's Yacht Club (PHYBC), a highly active club which has a real impact on communities in the Phillipines by making it easier for peopple to build and own their own boat. Important not just for recreation and health in an island naiton, livliehoods often depend on boats.
The PHBYC forum and Facebook pages have a wealth of technical knowledge and tips relevant for boatbuilders all over the world. The members will make you most welcome so be sure to visit and
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