Boracay Funboard underway

BORACAY – A heavy 66-man field from 13 countries, led by defending men’s champion Robbie Radis from Australia and women’s titlist Nanette Graf of the Philippines made up the starting field of the 15th Boracay International Funboard Cup which sailed off in the pristine Boracay waters yesterday.

One-time Boracay Cup champion Suh Yong Keun bannered a 26-strong South Korean contingent racing with local and international rivals from Antigua, Australia, Denmark, France, Guam, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States.

Men to watch out for are Radis, Alex Mowday from Penghu, Taiwan, Keiichi Kobayashi from Guam and Visegrip Fajardo and German Paz from the Philippines.

Graf, meanwhile, is likely to have her hands full defending her crown against Rachel Ng from Singapore. Graf is fresh from a successful stint in the Jeju Open International Windsurfing Festival where she won the gold medal in the course race discipline and the bronze in the slalom event.

A welcome dinner was hosted by Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores at Willy’s Beach Resort. Among the special guests were Korean Funboard Association president Kim Nam Yong, Jeju Korean Windsurfing Association president Kim Soo Chel and Shane Smart from Proteus, organizer of the Adecco-Asian Windsurfing Tour.

The event sailed off with winds consistently blowing at 16-18 knots.

For the next five days, events to be contested are the downwind slaloms, the speed trials, the Fosters Forward Loop and the Winduro, a one-hour, non-stop high wind race.

The event is presented by Asian Spirit, Maui and Sons, the Department of Tourism and the Municipality of Malay, Aklan and sponsored by Neil Pryde, Foster’s Beer, Philippine Airlines and media partners Action Asia and Philstar.com.

For more information, visit the cup website at www.windsurfingphilippines.com/bfc/.