Local entrepreneurs invest on watersports boards venture

Cebu will be the first to commercially manufacture skim board and surf boards in the country, and eventually make it to the international market, with the establishment of Adrenaline Boardriding Company, owned by young Cebuanos.

Cebu's position as the gateway or center for Sports Tourism in the Southern Philippines has paved the way for these two water sports enthusiasts to take advantage of the opportunity to manufacture water sport boards.

"We have seen an increasing demand for surf boards and skim boards, as these sports are becoming popular in the

Philippines, especially in islands like Siargao, and other surfing capitals," said Boeing Paras the company's managing partner.

Started as a hobby to make skim boards or surf boards for his own consumption and to friends, Paras said he was encouraged to put up a plant for board manufacturing as the demand significantly increased, not only for the domestic market, but also orders coming from other countries.

As Cebu was able to build a strong brand for outdoor accessories especially for mountaineering activities, the Habagat, Paras said Adrenaline would be positioned as a brand for water sports accessories, except diving gears.

But its highlight products would be skim boards and surfboards pegged at affordable cost with at par quality compared to imported products.

With a startup capital of an average of P800,000 Paras, with partner Mark Dayoc is now maintaining a 2,000 square meter skim and surf board plant in Cebu, and is supplying nationwide and slowly penetrating other countries.

Initially, Adrenaline boards are found in some shops in Metro Manila, and Tropical Relics in Cebu. Paras said the company is looking at opening its own showroom soon as soon as they will complete the offering of product lines such as Adrenaline apparels, accessories, among others.

The company, which officially started last April can now manufacture at least 30 to 50 boards a week. According to Dayoc, the production is expected to increase in the next few months, as they are currently negotiating for an export supply deal. Currently, the company is sending trial orders to Singapore.

With confidence, Paras said the company is ready to join the international giants in the boardriding industry, and compete.

Skim boards are usually sourced from the United States, while surfboards are majority manufactured in Australia. A single surf board would cost at about P35,000 to P40,000. While skim boards are pegged at about P5,000. Adrenaline's products are much lower than the imported ones.

There is a number of surfing capitals being developed in the Philippines, to boost the sports tourism bid of the country and attract more visitors, the famous is Siargao, Samar, La Union, among others.

Paras said more and more areas in the countries are potential surfing spots, and Filipinos are starting to love this sport, specially the skim boarding.

Meanwhile, international surfing enthusiasts are now starting to look at the Philippines as their preferred destination, Paras added.

"We would like to establish our brand extensively in the Philippines, as we also help promote developing other areas as tourism destination through developing water sports like surfing and skim riding," Dayoc stressed.