Kappel, Delos Santos rule ICTSI kiteboarding

MANILA, Philippines – Swede Atte Kappel and local ace Doque delos Santos put on a pair of scintillating performances to dominate their respective events and lead the winners in the kickoff leg of the ICTSI Philippine Kiteboarding Tour in Gen. Luna, Siargao recently.

Kappel, riding the Flysurfer, scored 4.0 nett to best Philippine Kiteboarding Association president Jay Ortiz, who made a 7.0 on Cabrinha for the Masters Twin Tip Race crown while Carlo Leongson finished third with a 12.0 followed by Eddie Garcia (13.0) and Mariel Candava (19.0),

Delos Santos, on the other hand, flashed superb form to turn in five aces in five races for an impressive 4.0 and rule the men’s Twin Tip Division of the first of four legs of the third staging of the $40,000 tour sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc and organized by PKA.

Under sailing rules, a competitor is allowed to drop one worst score after four races.

Julius Non from Caliraya placed second to Delos Santos with a 9.0 and Sassan Moscoso scored 11.0 for third in the event backed by Cabrinha, Greenyard Boracay, Coke and Sailor Gerry Spiced Rum and drew 32 competitors and 16 guests from Sweden, Slovenia, Australia, Germany, Norway, Ireland, Canada and Spain.

Jing Gajisan also brandished a dazzling show to capture the women’s Twin Tip diadem with a 6.0, edging Germany’s Kathrin Bogwardt (7.0), Liezl Tio (9.0) in the event supported by local sponsors Viento del Mar, Kitya’s Place, Kite Surf Siargao, Buddha’s Surf Resort, Kokai Resort, Harana Surf Resort, Lux Siargao Boutique Resort, Kermit Siargao Surf Resort, Seabreaze Kite Club, Siargao Cooking School and My Life on Board.

Ron Obligacion and Sabrina Savnik from Slovenia shared top honors in the novice division with the former scoring 3.0 to beat Annsen Baysa (5.0) and Ming Juan (9.0) for the men’s crown and the latter posting a 3.0 to foil local bet Lynley Teng (6.0) and Theresa Szewczuk (12.0) for the women’s tiara.

Delos Santos also shared first place with world junior No. 2 Christian Tio in the men’s freestyle. with Ken Nacor and Roldan Evora finishing joint third in the second day action of the three-day event. Aussie Ali Dudfield took first place in the women’s side, besting Savnic and Bogwardt.

But lack of wind in the final day forced the organizing PKA to call off the Hangtime competition and the face-off between Christian Tio and delos Santos for the tiebreaker. The Cabrinha prizes were instead raffled off with Kappel taking the kite set and Savnik winning the Cabrinha board.

Meanwhile, kiteboarding action resumes in Boracay on Jan. 8-10 for the second leg with Cagayan hosting the next stop on Feb. 12-14 before the circuit winds up in Cuyo Island in Palawan on March 11-13.