Elite kite boarders vie in Camsur tilt

MANILA, Philippines - Top international pro kite boarders are currently vying for top honors in the second edition of the Wind or No Wind (WONW) Board Jam kite boarding competition at the Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC) in Pili, Camarines Sur.

Aaron Hadlow (UK), five-time winner of the Pro Kiteboard Riders’ Association (PKRA) World Championships, and 2008 X-Cup and 2008 Wake Lab champion Olivier Derome (Canada) head the elite cast that also includes Andre Phillip (Antigua), voted as No. 1 kite boarder for three years in a row by readers of Kite Boarder Magazine and Men’s Overall champion in the 2009 Triple-S Invitational in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, British tour contender Samuel Light (UK), PKRA veteran boarder Tom Court (UK), Brandon Scheid (USA), who has been nominated for the 2011 AWSI Kiteboarder of the year award, according to Camarines Sur Gov. LRay Villafuerte, the man behind the creation of the CWC, considered as the best wake park in the world.

Now on its second year, the Wind or No Wind Board Jam is one of CWC’s top sporting events. It also hosted the 2008 and 2009 WWA Wake Park World Championship and the Ultimate Wake Championship last January, the last and final stop of the 2010 WWA Wake Park World Series and the WWA Wakeboard World Series.

Others in the fold are Wake Up Call and KiteJam! Champion Craig Cunningham (Canada), Billy Parker (USA) champion of the 2010 Jupiter Kiteboarding Invasion, held in Jupiter, Florida, USA, David Blair (USA), a contender at the Kiteworld Slider Jam competition in the UK, DAKINE International team rider and Slingshot Kite Global

team rider Eric Raiestra (USA), Patrick Wieland (USA), also a veteran kite boarder and a cinematographer known for his ride videos; top kite surfing instructor Chris Simpson (UK) of Kitesurfkings.

Up for grabs in the nine-day event ending Dec. 10 are the Best Overall Rider (best in cable and kite category), Best Cable Park rider (1st, 2nd and 3rd), Best Kite Riders (1st, 2nd and 3rd), and Best Attitude Award, which is a sort of sportsmanship award.

There are also the GOPRO Challenge Award, for the team that captures the best images among the invited pro riders in both cable and kite, and the Poachers and X Riders Challenge Award.

The main event is the kite competition, to be held at the Lago Del Rey man-made lake, and will follow the following format: When the wind is up, there will be a one-hour free ride session for everyone (invited riders, invited poachers and poachers). Once all warmed up, the riders go to 4 heats of 6 riders at 35 minutes each heat.

The first 2 heats will have the 12 invited riders, followed by 2 heats of invited poachers. After these 4 heats, there will be another one-hour free ride session, to be followed by four more heats. All those issued a Wind or No Wind jersey gets to ride and anyone can win the competition, even those not in the list of by showing the most superior performance during the free ride session.