Bulalacao is the Philippine word for meteor. The name says it all. In the bay of the small village in the south of Mindoro, the wind really does shoot across the water like a meteor. The PKA organises the Philippine Kitesurfing Championships in Race, Hangtime, Freestyle and Foil here for three days. More than 50 international riders compete under really tough conditions.
Our small group with local kiter Buddy Cocoy and expat Jens arrives late at night from the ferry in a truck full of fun. The island is asleep. Early the next morning, the wind at Felipa Lodge near the harbour is very good. It picks up considerably by midday. The forecast for the next few days offers a stubborn all-you-can-eat menu of between 15 and 40 knots. She is to be proved right.
I’ve been kitesurfing for 20 years and have never taken part in a competition. Kitesurfing is my religion. So competing is like betting for me. But with such strong winds, even old heavyweights like me can step on the gas. Our small group signs up for hangtime and race for a good €60.
Many riders from the last two stops at Lakawon and Sicogon at the beginning of this year are back again. They range from young locals who have just started out to Olympians. The young Filipinos, in particular, are constantly pushing themselves up to over ten metres between the two jetties in ultra-fast speeds of up to 40 knots. The young people in the village cheer just as enthusiastically as they did on my first visit with my kiter friend Max in 2012 – we were probably the second kiters here.
The spot in Bulalacao offers enough space for everyone, but there are some very sharp little pieces of coral lying around on the beach and in the water – many riders cut their feet open quite badly. A few times, gusts also sweep riders across the beach. The wind blows sideon to sideshore – the lifeboat has a few missions in the strongly fluctuating winds. If you want to kitesurf here, please take care! These are by far the gustiest winds in the Philippines.
On the very first evening there is a celebration with the mayor and provincial governor at the By The Sea Hotel. The difference between top-dressed employees in fine shirts and spick and span shoes and rather vagabond kiters is bizarre. Tanduhay and beer are flowing freely with food and live music. I go to bed early with a bad cold.
The next morning, the hangtime competition begins. There is no right kite size in Bulalacao. Ten minutes on a 13 metre kite. Immediately afterwards you can’t keep contact with the ground with 10 m². It’s all about hangtime. So I set up the 13er Edge first. My first test ride goes well for five minutes, then the wind picks up to peak values of around 32 knots. Landing is only possible with a helper behind you. I set up the 10 XR4. The wind is fine for a few minutes, but I miss the start of our hangtime run. Even my modest test jumps don’t score – I mess up every landing without exception.
In the freestyle that followed, the locals in particular really let it rip. Just watching their landings on the camera in slow motion is physically painful. They give each other nothing and ride like there’s no tomorrow.
In the late afternoon and throughout the next day, the races take place in several classes. The wind remains very changeable. The first two of four races go well for me in good 25 to 30 knots. Although I don’t get the strategy behind the flying start halfway until the third race, I end up in midfield in the first two races. My mobile phone even takes first place in the Android class: I forgot it in my board shorts at the start. It dies a fortunately explosion-free, damp hero’s death in the human midfield. The third race is riddled with long wind holes. It takes me ages to get round the windward buoy. I have to abandon the fourth race in only 14 knots as the heaviest rider in the field.
My friends Cocoy and Jens finish second and sixth. Kathrin takes pretty much everything that can be won and finishes first in all disciplines. At $12,000, the prize money this year is significantly higher than last year and really pays for a good part of some riders’ lives. After the usual epic closing party late into the night with a good DJ from Boracay, live drums and loads of fun, 50 hungover kiters wandered the beach the next morning to collect plastic. Many thanks to the organisers, it was another wonderful event!
After a very quick award ceremony, everyone quickly flees the island. In just three weeks of travelling to the “non-typhoon season”, the second major typhoon is already just around the corner. From late morning, there are no more ferries. Air traffic is also cancelled shortly afterwards. My half-time balance for the main wind season is in the dark red with six kite days.
I jump into a minivan and drive over steep mountains to the other side of the island to San Jose. I buy a new mobile phone. Poverty and wretchedness say good night to each other here. The best restaurant is McDonalds. I work for a few days in the classiest hotel in town. Its best days are long behind it. The mobile phone rings with constant disaster text messages from the government…
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.