Kiteboarding takes a glide in CamSur

PILI, Camarines Sur, Philippines  -- The best and the brightest of kiteboarding the world over are having a blast in the Wind or No Wind Kiteboard Jam at the CamSur Watersports Complex.

Five-time world kiteboarding champion Aaron Hadlow and world No. 11 Tom Court of England banner a stellar cast of world-class riders having fun here competing and spreading the word that there is such a sport as kiteboarding.

“This is the first time we’re bringing in the top riders in the world. We have invited some of the 12 most influential riders who are here not just to compete but also to help promote consciousness about kiteboarding,” said Brazilian Mauricio Abreau, who made this rare event possible.

“A lot of these riders are on tour on different parts of the world, some don’t compete at all and do only videos or photos. To bring everyone together in an event like this is unheard of,” Abreau also said.

Aside from Hadlow and Court, the United States’ Brandon Schied, Davey Blair, Greg Norman, Jr., Chad Worrall and Jason Slezak, England’s Chris Burke, James Boulding and Sam Light, Dominican Republic’s Susi Mai, Tahiti’s Moehau Goold and the Netherland’s Ruben Lenten have joined the fun and should contend for awards like Best Overall Performance, Cable Rider and Kite Rider.

Abreau said all 22 participants will sit together and judge for themselves the winner of this weeklong event backed by Camarines Sur Gov. L-Ray Villafuerte, CWC, Rupibl1c, O’Neill, Liquid Force, Skull Candy, Slingshot Sports, Rebootizer, Team Duke and Hinaho Tahiti.

“We get together and we see what happens. We’ll see who comes out on top. We all judge each other, we all have fun, we all see who’s better than us. It’s the best way to judge a competition in an evolving sport,” Abreau said.

“I can get riders or judges to sit down and score, but I know better how difficult it is to do a trick. When I see a better one, I know what to give him. We have 22 competitors, so we have 22 judges.

“The champion is the guy who we all like in the water the most. It’s a different concept,” he added.

Court, who is itching to visit Boracay this week before going home to London, said he already has an idea who is going to emerge as the best performer in this world-class tilt.

“There are really great riders here. Aaron (Hadlow), Sam Light, Brandon (Scheid) are doing well. It’s hard to tell who’s going to win it. We’ll see,” said Court.

“Throughout the event we’re watching each other, see how we improve. At the end of the event we get a piece of paper and we write down who we thought has improved the most and who’s doing the best stuff.

“It’s quite a fair way to judge it, really because we’re all looking at each other. There’s not a strict criteria, but there are certain things you look for like the technical variations and the tricks,” he added.

Villafuerte, for his part, was happy to disclose that 30 participants from Hong Kong ignored the travel ban issued by their country to be here.

“We had an issue with Hong Kong but 30 people from Hong Kong came so it took kiteboarding for them to come despite the travel ban,” said Villafuerte, whose vision has led the CWC to be one of the best, if not the best, watersports destinations in the world today.

Villafuerte expects some local kiteboarders to come out in the near future.

“It’s a relatively new sport in the Philippines. It’s very good. We can be a top destination for kiteboarding. Any time of the year we have good wind. We have a couple of good riders, like Ken Nacor (from Boracay). There’s a lot of potential here,” he said.

Paula Rosales, the lone Filipina participant in this event, agrees.

“When I started kiteboarding three years ago, we were less than 10. Then it exploded. Before it was really slow. But since Gov (Villafuerte) got interested in kiteboarding, it’s faster now. You know him, he has a vision and a target,” said Rosales, who works in a kite school and manages Cabrinha kite shop in Boracay on the side.

The 25-year-old Rosales also gushed at the thought of competing against the best of the best in kiteboarding.

“The foreigners here are the best riders in the world. That’s one of the criteria here. You must know how to wakeboard, kiteboard and do the rails,” said Rosales.