Iloilo Paraw Regatta Experience

I arrived at the beach early, and my first impression was: "OMG wow, so this is Paraw Regatta 2016!

OMG because I have not seen this many boats (Paraws) about to compete in one place. In fact, I even think this is the only such competition in the country (Zamboanga Vintas are way smaller than these)!

I could not even fit in one shot of my camera, the length of beach laden with paraws of different sizes!

You see the paraws at both edges of the photo? They're not the ends of it. There were just too many!

These were the boats (Paraws) to my left...

And these were the boats (Paraws) to my right...

Alright, I do not have many things to say about these Paraws as of the moment, but let me show you some of the sail "paintings" (also a contest). They somehow lend character or identity to each Paraw!

Lucky for you my readers, below is like a photo album! Unlucky for me, they take too much space 😆

Those are not all of them. Just some of those I got to snap photos of!

I must say they look wonderful when they're all lined up en masse at the beach before a contest. But if I were to see just one, whether "parked" or sailing, I wouldn't be too enthusiastic to have a second look or a closer look - since they are still a common mode of transport amongst fishermen of this country.

And if they were not together as a group, the sail paintings would not actually be attractive to me - as I am not good at appreciating paintings. Here, they don't seem to know that "simplicity is beauty" hehe! Paintings seem to be "trying hard" with a lot of "meanings" and minute details crammed into the sails.

When you're in front of a Paraw, the sail's painting is too high you strain your neck trying to appreciate it. Well, from 5 to 10 meters away, you do get some bit of admiration at how awesome they are, if at all. But anywhere farther than that, the sails just look like dirty pieces of cloth with a lot of dark stains.

But don't take my word for it. Maybe it's just me, the not so artistic brain. Or maybe it's the "theme" of the competition, where the painters are forced to draw something like "cultural scenes" and the likes.

Or, maybe I have been used to seeing paraws at Boracay where the sails are generally plain colored - usually blue, right? And they look beautiful even when far out at sea, or silhouetted by the setting sun.

Or, maybe my brain has also been trained to seeing the vintas of Zamboanga where the sail colors are generally plain geometric and bright, that, are quite magnificent to view even when far out from shore.

Anyway, we know that historically, those sails were never painted with mural-like art, di ba?

Oh btw, about those paintings, I think it's also a contest requirement that they are rendered just on one side of a sail - only on the left side if you are facing the Paraw (right side or starboard side if you were on board). That's why you see just plain colored sails of the boats on the first photograph above (top).

There were other interesting sights/scenes I saw other than the painted sails. Like these...

There were 'at least' two foreigners (or foreign looking?) visitors that my camera caught amongst the sea of humanity. No, I did not seek them. I just noticed them when I was reviewing my pictures. And I am just guessing that they're the same couple. Not even sure if they were here to watch the Regatta!

Happy that I was able to catch some boats/teams still practicing an hour before the race!

They look mesmerizingly magnificent when they glide on the water.

Happy to note that these Paraws could actually run fast by just harnessing the wind's power!

I asked a contestant, he told me that some of these boats can sail as fast as 30 to 50 kph. Wow ha!

And the other fantastic thing that makes me like watching these boats: they're not noisy! No engines!

So, no noise-pollution nor CO₂ emissions. They just fleetingly glide by. Sana all boats are like them.

Oh, more sightings! Red arrow: a dog and its master playing on the shallow waters!

Aw, blue arrow points to a parasail. Am not sure if it was part of the festivities or ume-epal lang hehe!

Here's another one (different from the one above)... this is a glider that just landed on water!

Ahm, well, part of the festivities or not, epal or not, I enjoyed watching it circle the morning skies!

Hey I took some video clips! of the above "preliminary sights". O, here now!


Back at the lined-up Paraws, I marveled at this one...

The boat's hull has a unique shape. There must be a 'technical' or 'scientific' reason why it is so, 'no?!

Look! Here is another one that I wondered about... a primitive-looking but aluminum contraption..,

Ano kaya yun? It must have something to do with the rudder control (timon) 'no?

Here's proof that the Paraw Regatta is not some "just-just" event. They're well-equipped!

That's one of those crafts used by the contest organizers - probably umpires or referees.

Eto pa... just read what's written on the side of the boat! Bantay Dagat? Me ganun?!

Well, for whatever they were there for, nice to see them at such an event on the open seas, di ba?

And these...

No one ever wants to see these guys in action, right? But good that they were around - just in case!

And can you believe there was even this boat? No, this was not part of the contest!

Nagtitinda lang ng mangga straight from Guimaras. Bakit ba, di ba? Walang basagan ng trip!

The many spectators on the beach were captive market enough, right?! That's "business acumen"!

Near the stage, I noticed Paraw crews were congregating and in serious discussions...

I inched nearer and saw they were looking at this... their contest route. Exciting!

Also nearby, there was this other contest that had nothing to do with boats or the sea...

"Pinta" means paint (noun) or to paint (verb) and "Tawo" means person or human. I thought this was a portrait painting contest, or, if it were to be kinda gruff (Iloilo style) fun, maybe a tattoo(ing) contest.

But when I looked inside the kiosks where the contest already started, I saw these...

Well, and oh okay, a painting contest where the 'canvass' is a live human being. Hay ang mga Ilonggo gid ya ah! Indi lang creative, kinky artistic din hehe! That's why I love this place! BTW, just maybe soon they should use airbrushes for these art things - including the Paraws! For a modern twist, somehow!

There were other contests, but either I did not have time to watch them or I was not that enthusiastic. Like I heard there is also a beauty pageant called Ms Paraw Regatta. And there's also a street dancing contest? Mardi gras daw. Imagine that, this has not even been a month after the Dinagyang Festival!

Grabe 'no?! The start of any year must really be busy for Iloilo City.

But okay, let me stop telling my story now. I'll post some video clips here soon. O eto na!

Kakaiba.., nothing like it.., a different kind of race.., and really fun to watch!