World class surfers vie in Boracay tiff

A star-studded field of at least 70 foreign and local windsurfers will strut their wares this week when the 15th Boracay International Funboard Cup is held at the Bulabog Beach of the world-famous Boracay Island in Aklan.

The four-day competition, which serves as the fourth leg of the five-country Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, has attracted the best Asian competitors, including those from the Philippine Windsurfing Team and Korean Windsurfing Association.

Registration is scheduled today.

Robbie Radis, the three-time over-all champion of the Boracay event, will be the man to beat in the downwind slalom event with pressure coming from RP’s Eduardo "Vise-Grip" Fajermo, a one-time Boracay Cup champion, and Olympian Richard Paz.

German Paz, a 25-year-old veteran of the Asian Games and the SEA Games, will defend his title in the men’s class (age 29 and below) although the Koreans, featuring young windsurfers, are bent on snatching the title away from the Filipino.

Other events on tap are the speed trials, the Fosters Forward Loop and the Winduro, a one-hour non-stop high wind race testing a windsurfer’s endurance and skill. Action will be covered by Star Sports and ESPN networks and Action Asia Magazine.

Aside from Radis, the 2001 winner in Boracay who is currently running first in the 2003 Tour, the other foreign windsurfer to watch is Phanuthat Ruamsap of Thailand, currently ranked third in the Tour.

The main discipline of the Cup is the downwind slalom. This event is all about speed over the water. Racers all cross the line together and travel downwind around a series of buoys. The first windsurfer to cross the line is declared the winner of that race.

The fleet is divided into heats with four heats making a single round of racing. Up to eight rounds of racing could be run throughout the four-day event should the northeast monsoon (amihan) winds continue to blow as it has been for the last few days.