Scuttlebutt: Boracay Funboard Cup
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Photo courtesy Martyn Willes |
The 21st Boracay Funboard Cup, on Bulabog Beach, originally scheduled for January 2009, is postponed until 2010. The organisers told us only yesterday that there is a lot more to the story and to contact DoT, PTA and DENR; there being no more time for this issue . . . read next
Boracay Island is going through some growing pains as it competes with the other top ten best tropical destinations in the World for the best beach awards supremacy. One of the largest issues is the treatment of sewage: with so many people visiting such a small island it is a challenge. A new sewage treatment scheme will occupy a significant portion of the water along Bulabog Beach (the "back or East beach", on the opposite side of Boracay Island from the famous, beautiful, talcum powder soft, brilliant white sand beach), to the claimed detriment of the Bulabog Beach’s current use as a windsurfing and kiteboarding adventure centre.
The people we have spoken to amongst the Philippine windsurfing community and the Boracay Island tourist foundation are of the opinion that the postponement of the Boracay Funboard Cup – the premier Philippine windsurfing and kiteboarding sports event – by the organizers, is an attempt to demonstrate the significance of Bulabog Beach as a water sports tourist magnet (especially windsurfing and kiteboarding) and an attempt to get the authorities to redirect the sewage treatment facility elsewhere.
Whatever the reason, the postponement of the Boracay Funboard Cup for one year is sad news for the hundreds of windsurfers and kiteboarders affected, and the many hundreds of spectators who flock to Boracay Island every year for this championship tropical destination event. Instead of Boracay Island they may now go elsewhere and leave airplane seats, luxury hotel rooms, best beach resort, restaurants, pubs, clubs and bars empty.