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Ceremonial Breaking of the Surfboard: (L-R) Department of Tourism Director Letty Tan,
Surigao del Norte Vice Governor Carlos Egay, Roxy's Marketing Manager for SEA Holly Monkman
and General Luna Mayor Jaime Rusillon. |
1 May 2012, Siargao Island - Philippines: The Roxy Siargao International Women’s Surfing Cup at world-class Cloud 9 on Siargao Island got started today in excellent 3-4 foot surf, after it was officially opened by Vice Governor Arturo Carlos Egay, Department of Tourism Director Letty Tan, Roxy's Marketing Manager for Southeast Asia (SEA) Holly Monkman and Municipal Mayor of General Luna Jamie Rusillon, known affectionately as the Father of Philippine Surfing.
An avid and long-time supporter of surfing, Mayor Rusillon entertained the crowd with a passionate yet humorous speech, welcoming the women contestants and assuring them that Siargao Island had the most handsome men in the Philippines, so he hoped they would all find their perfect mates here. He continued by referring to the poet Rudyard Kipling and his phase “East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet,” and how it was certainly not the case as East has often met West with excellent results as evidenced by the many happy Western/Filipino couples on the Island. All due to the sport of surfing and its influence on Siargao Island!
His speech was followed by a speech by Roxy’s Marketing Executive for SEA Holly Monkman, who expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to be part of the event, saying “Getting here was a bit of a challenge, but from the moment I arrived I fell in love with this place. It’s so beautiful with such great waves and people that I’m so delighted to be part of this event. I want to say a special thanks to Dino and Chinky at the Primer Group for coming in to help sponsor the event for Roxy, and to Tim and Michaela at the ASC for putting us onto this great opportunity.”
Speeches by Department of Tourism Director Letty Tan and Vice Governor Arturo Carlos Egay followed, both very pleased to be supporting the event and pledging their assurances that they would continue to support the event in the future, which drew a big round of applause. Dances by local groups followed, and then the event was officially opened by the traditional breaking of a surfboard by Vice Governor Egay, Director Tan, Mayor Rusillon, and Holly Monkman.
The 21 women surfers from Australia, England, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Switzerland, and the USA all took to the water today with Round 1 and a Repechage Round of two heats completed in solid 3-4 foot surf.
Occasional bomb sets sent some of the less experienced girls scurrying for the channel and picking off the smaller inside waves, but all the girls had a great experience and even those that lost their heats had another chance to advance with the repechage round.
Standouts included Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea from Nias in Indonesia winning the first heat of the day, local Nilbie Blancada tearing into the biggest sets of the day for her heat win, Australia’s Philippa Anderson dominating her heat, and mother of two Nildie Blancada-Rietenbach getting the win in arguably the toughest heat of the day against fellow Cloud 9 local Manette Alcala, Daisy Valdez from La Union, and 16 year old Angeline Alipayo from Siargao.
Tomorrow the competition is scheduled to resume at approximately 10 am with Round 3, and conditions are expected to be slightly smaller with variable winds, so look forward to another exciting day of surfing from one of the world’s best surfing spots.
This historic event has the distinction of being both the first-ever Asian Surfing Championship event to be held in the Philippines and the first to receive the top Ultima rating for its PHP 300,000 (approximately $7,000 USD) prize purse in Women’s Division competition.
The Roxy Siargao International Women’s Surfing Cup is supported by the Philippine Department of Tourism, the House of Representatives, the Province of Surigao Del Norte, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the Municipality of General Luna, organized by the Philippine Surfing Federation, and with sponsorship from the Primer Group of Companies, Rockstar Energy Drink the San Miguel Corporation, and media support by Thirty Six-O Media.
For more information about this competition, please contact:
Philippine Surfing Federation
Zeny Pallugna – Secretary General
or
Asian Surfing Championships
Michaela Partin – Tour Manager
(This article was written by TIm Hain)
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The 21 competitors of the Roxy Siargao International Surfing Cup held from May 1 to 4, 2012
at Cloud 9 on Siargao Island. (Photo by: Tim Hain) |
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Dayday Arjente of Siargao Island (Photo by: Tim Hain) |
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Roxy's number one rider Philippa Anderson poses with the other competitors of the
Roxy Siargao International Surfing Cup (Photo by: Tim Hain) |
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Cloud 9 (Photo by: Tim Hain) |
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Nildie Blancada of Siargao Island (Photo by: Tim Hain) |