The Philippines first Paralympic Sailing Team competed on the 2-person keelboat (SKUD 18), which also made its official debut in the Paralympics. The only Paralympic class keelboat with a spinnaker, was, for this event, emblazoned with the national flag of each country. Pedro Sollique, paraw fisherman from Virac, Catanduanes was SKUD helm while crew Cherry Pinpin, a creative director from Quezon City trimmed sails and flew the spinnaker. The Philippine flag spinnaker was a generous, timely donation by an anonymous Australian businessman.
The Sailing competition of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games[5] took place on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, from September 8 to September 13. The Qingdao International Sailing Centre served as measuring and decal application area, boat workspace, dock, public viewing areas and awards area. Qingdao, in eastern Shandong province, a seaside sailing city famous for its Tsingtao Beer, seafood and white sand beaches, is an hour's flight SE of Beijing. The rest of the Qingdao-based team was composed of Philippine Sailing Association National Coach Rico Albeso plus PHI Sailing team manager and Sailability Philippines President, Claudio Altura.