It all starts with a dream.
And that dream is to be able to race solo on a sailboat across a vast and awesome ocean.
Though only one sailor will race that sailboat, it will take an entire team to help get that sailor ready and properly supported for the campaign.
Team Viloria Yacht Racing is a personal project of Paolo Viloria for solo/single handed ocean racing. With the support of his very organized wife, friends from the Subic Sailing community, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC) community, and various sponsors, Paolo intends to make his dream of racing in the world’s solo ocean racing circuits a reality.
Solo ocean racing is mainly dominated by French sailors from elite to amateur, and those who are currently supporting us are saying that Paolo might just be the very first Filipino to attempt participation in this very distinguished circle of solo sailors.
PAOLO
Is your quintessential “waterman”. He is a very proficient swimmer, former water polo player, amateur freediver & surfer, and also a Certified International Surf Lifeguard trained by the SLSA. He has participated in Ironman distance triathlon events, and has done 15 km open water swimming, once in daylight and once at night during his teen years and early twenties.
He saw his first sailboat when he was only three years old. He found it to be “a very beautiful thing to look at” and thought to himself: “probably wonderful to ride on”, but social conditions in the Philippines, as well as his struggling middle-class background prevented him from getting on a sailboat earlier on. And so, Paolo had to set that particular love aside until opportunity presented itself.
His love of the water, however, didn’t stop him from pursuing other, more affordable water sports–which explains his stint as a swimmer in the local varsities, water polo teams and–of all things, a volunteer surf lifeguard. He loves freediving in turbulent water, as well as swimming and surfing in heavy conditions (but being responsible enough not to exceed his limits).
It wasn’t until he turned 30 that he realized (and quite practically) that he wanted to go “further” but the ocean was just too vast (with some areas too cold) for him to swim. This realization, coupled with a Volvo Ocean Race poster in front of him (while he was at a dealership, signing for his car), and some measure of professional success reawakened his once dormant love for sailboats.
While he did enjoy his time doing “leisure sailing,” he decided to start training to race February of 2013, under the guidance of Peter Capotosto of the Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC). Under Peter’s recommendation, Paolo was invited by David McKenna as crew-in-training on Rapparee XXX, and then invited by Austen Chamberlain to be a part of the intrepid crew of Team Sorcerer Yacht Racing, based in Subic Bay Freeport.
After racing in the Philippine Hobie Challenge, Vasco’s Cup and Commodore’s Cup, and other local regattas, Paolo was then introduced (by Austen) to Simon Pickering of Hyde Sails and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC), who then invited him to crew for his current team “Vineta” which is based in Hong Kong.
After several trips to race in HK this year (2015), a supportive community in TLYC, SubicSailing, RHKYC, and five sponsors later, Paolo is well on his way (he hopes) to be the solo ocean racing sailor he dreams of becoming.
