Playing with the wind

MANILA, Philippines - The Boracay International Funboard Cup celebrates a love for windsurfing, kiteboarding, and an overall love for fun under the sun. In fact, the event started on Dec. 29, 1988 as founders Roby and Nenette Graf’s wedding anniversary celebration.

Little did the couple know that this would give birth to an annual international event, which in turn marks its 25th anniversary this year. “We are now on the world map as one of the top windsurf and kitesurf destinations,” Nenette says.

Developing through the years, the Boracay International Funboard Cup is the Philippines’ and Asia’s longest-running and most successful annual international event of its kind. It has been deemed as “Asia’s Best Boardsailing Blast” by Hong Kong-based Action Asia Magazine and voted on CNNgo.com as Top 52 weekend events destination in the world in 2010.

Events like the Boracay International Drive Fest, Boracay Paraw Regatta, Boracay International Dragon Boat Festival, Boracay International Mountain Biking Festival, and the Kiteboard Tour Asia were all inspired by the Funboard Cup.

Originally, the Boracay Cup started solely as a windsurfing event. When the kiteboarding division was introduced in 2005, the event started to grow. The Boracay Cup has been the Philippine leg of the Asian Windsurfing Tour for 18 years, drawing in professional and amateur participants from Asia, Oceania, Europe, and elsewhere.

For the week of the Funboard Cup, guests enjoy the reliable weather of Bulabog Beach, which provides the best conditions for wind sports. Previously an overlooked strip of beach, Bulabog has benefitted from the hype that the festival has brought to the area. Now, the thriving community of Bulabog has been able to start their own local businesses and the beach has been able to gain international interest as a home to first-rate kite instruction centers.

The mission of the Boracay Funboard Cup is “to promote Boracay’s Bulabog beach as one of the best spots on the planet for windsport and gather the best windsurfers and kiteboarders in the world every year to an organized racing, great parties and good camaraderie and friendship between competitors,” says Nenette, who is still actively involved in organizing the event.

The standard of competition is high – Olympians, PRO World’s top 10,  Asian Games champions and national champions have all competed in the Boracay Funboard Cup,” she says, adding that not only professionals join the competition – windsport enthusiasts also flock to Boracay each year to take part in the event.

 â€œWindsurfing is a lifestyle sport, and the Boracay Funboard Cup preserves a friendly atmosphere with intermediate sailors warmly welcomed. Winning is important, but the destination that is Boracay, the fun, and the camaraderie are all essential ingredients,” says Nenette.

The 2013 Boracay International Funboard Cup was held from Jan. 21 to 26, with 26 windsurfers from around the world joining the competition. In addition, 45 kiteboarders joined as well.

The week-long festivities included slalom races with windsurfers sailing from a starting line 200 meters offshore, having to thread through five buoys, ending with an exciting full-speed blast to the finish line.

In an adjacent lagoon, speed trials were conducted with windsurfers and kiteboarders dashing fast and furious down a 200-meter course.

Kiteboarders enjoyed the latest addition to the cup, the Cabrinha Boracay Big Air Challenge, where they took part in slalom kite racing, freestyle, and tricks which wowed the spectators.

Of course, Boracay would not be Boracay without parties – and the Funboard Cup had to live up to the beach’s nightlife expectations. Bringing together laid-back revelry and awarding ceremonies, the nightly parties brought together windsurfers, kiteboarders, and guests in true Boracay fashion.

“Fun with a capital F! Another great event and one of the best in 25 years of the boracay cup,” Nenette exclaims. Looking forward to the next 25 years, she says she hopes to “offer it to a group of people who can continue the legacy of the Cup and bring it to another level.”