My new kite school

It's been a while... as usual.

I have finally made the step and opened up my own kite school together wt Kathrin.
After i have spend over 5 season on an island called Boracay i had to step away from it.
I had a very good time there, especially the first few years when the kite beach was not so crowded and Hey Jude was still running. I think the end of the most famous bar on the island "Hey Jude" marked the point where the island got lost to corruption, selfish business owners and way to many tourists.
During the last two season it just got too crowded, noisy and especially the Bulabog water got so much pollution that it is not really a kiters dream anymore. Infected wt salmonella / typhus and officially called "not fit for human activity" it's just gone over the top.

So now i have opened up my own school on a surfer's island called Siargao. It is surely an island on the way up. It is well known to surfers, as it has the most famous Filipino wave Cloud 9.
The kitecenter is called Kitesurf Siargao. We offer courses for all levels, from beginners to pro wave riding lesson. 1 on 1 tuition or advanced courses as well as trips to the neighbouring islands, downwinders, mangrove trips and many other thing to explore around the island.

Our center is equipped wt brand new Cabrinha and NP gear. We use the latest 2015 Cabrinha Radar kites for teaching.

Check it out!!!
www.kitesurf-siargao.com

We're also present on Facebook, Google+, Twitter.

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The IKA Kite World Championships

Here i am back on tour...

It has been a long summer back home in Switzerland wt a lot of work, good times wt friends and almost winter ;-) As usual i didn't kite much back home, except for a weekend on Lake Como, which was fantastic.

My travel started from Zurich to London for a long weekend followed by a short meeting at cabrinha in Hong Kong where i got my quiver filled again wt new toys. The 2014 Chaos looks fantastic, and it feels awesome to ride. This year i got the 138 XCaliber Signature Series which is a bit bigger than last year, it goes very well upwind, give me a good pop and is very light weight.

We had a great start into the season with our biggest event up to date. 160 competitors from all over the world came to China to the course racing world championships. It took almost 1.5years to organise and many meetings wt officials and local authorities to get it all together.
We ran 61 races in mostly great and sometimes challenging conditions, the sun came out only on rare occasions. Most of the competitors were very happy wt the outcome of the event, as we got a lot of positive feedback. A new mark has been set for upcoming worlds.

I was sitting on the pin boat for the whole event and making sure no one goes over the line too early, and if then pin em down and get em UFD... ;-) apart from getting the flag up n down at the right time and checking the line during the start sequence we also had a lot of spare time on the boat... but what else to do on a chines fishing boat than fishing...

My personal note out of the many nations and people i met at the worlds... chines and americans are very similar, both think they are the biggest and best, both have not much knowledge of the rest of the world, less than 40% of the population own a passport and they are pretty loud and rude.


The KTA starts again and i'm back for more. Biggest change for this year, i'm not staying in Boracay anymore. I had a good time in the last 5 years, but in the end, Boracay will not get me any further in life. I still got a lot of friends back there, which i most likely will see when we go back wt the KTA. It's a good kite spot, which got a bit too popular and way to crowded nowadays. There is also a serious health threatening water quality issue, which has just become worse over the last 5 years. The government will probably not fix the serious pollution problem in Bulabog as long as people keep comin.

Right now i'm over in Perth where the Oceania Championships are about to beginn. Looks like a lot easier to organise an event like this over here. The sailing clubs have all the boats u need and staff that is well trained and they speak a language which is understandable...

There is plenty of kitespots around. so far i've checked out the ones closer to perth... not really enough time to do the long trips to the great spots north and south of perth but the kiting here is fab as well. U can find a spot for every wind direction.

i'll be back for more... oceanics next then xmas race in phuket and NZ for xmas ;-)

peace out...


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KTA Boracay 2012

it's already a while back but i thought i should write a little wrap up of the KTA Boracay tour stop.

This year i had to start early to organize it, since i was local organizer and competition director. So not only dealing wt the daily schedule stuff, but also run around the island and get permissions done, wt a lot of help from Ken. The observing the whole setup, get everything printed on time and delivered. It was all on very short notice.. since the main sponsor signed the contract about 5weeks before the tour stop and we had a 2 week block off for xmas and new year.. where nobody really works.
I the end it was well worth it, first of all we had 80! competitors registered, reduced the partys to what is actually needed, and made every one feel comfortable on the spot and able to focus on kiteboarding.
The Beachfront of Aqua Boracay is definitely the best spot for the competition, the widest beach and once finished it will be a stunning background.
We started off wt the freestyle and went all the way to the single finals. Very successful first day of competition. Second day was as good as day one, races in the bag in both categories twin tip and race boards and freestyle doubles started.
We managed to make it all the way to the double finals on day3 and had the last day reserved for racing only. Lucky as we are, the wind dropped off on the last day and we could only do a few more races.
We had a nice opening party in Epic, a midweek party in Dos Mestizos and the final night was in Sands Bar and the after party in Jungle Bar... as u can guess.. we had a blast and i think no one went home sober :-)

All in all.. the best event we ever had on this island. thx to all the competitors, i hope i will see u all again next year again on my home spot and hopefully together wt Aqua Boracay again.. Read Full...

time for a change

a year has gone, a new one s about to come.
So what can we do better in the next one? hmmm same question every year. I say let's do the same shit again because it was a good year!
Traveled the world, made new friends, lost some good friends, had a lot of time on the water, a blast on the island and a lot of good chats, beers and party's.
What else could i wish for... all i can say it's a damn good life!

So with this short notes i wish u all a very happy new year, make more love, more babies and make this world a better place wt every day of ur life, don't wast ur days u have only one life.

Photos by Alexander Baranescu Read Full...

Kiting wt the Pro's

It looks like Boracay is climbing up on the to do list of many international riders. After we have seen a few pros last season, we started this year wt a big bang of stars.

Due to the Wind or no Wind event in CWC are a lot of big names in the Philipines, and a few used their chance to come and pay us a visit.

Aaron Hadlow, Tom Court and Sam Light chose our Boracay Kiteresort as the place to stay and I got the job to show them around.

After they came a day late due to some higher forces… they made it just in time for a good afternoon session on bulabog beach. Ones they were spotted on the water the crowed stood still and watched. It’s nice to see them in action and not only on video where they land all the tricks. 

They were actually shooting some video as well the next day.. after a pretty hangover morning. They said they really like the island but would have to professional mode nexttime, otherwise the island takes it's toll.. as we all know, if u have ever visited Boracay.

Let's see when they will make it back again. Tom is coming already in 2weeks for the progression camp... so we will see some more amazing kiting on the island.

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West Cove Resort is goin DOWN!!

Finally justice will take em down...

There are still a few people not to corrupt in the Philippine Government to take a rich man construction down.

Town orders Boracay resort closed

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas

11:44 pm | Saturday, June 11th, 2011

 2 share93

ILOILO CITY—The municipal government of Malay in Aklan on Friday ordered closed a resort in Boracay that has become controversial due to rumors that boxing champion Manny Pacquiao partly owns it and protests over its location in what authorities said was a no-build zone.
Malay Mayor John Yap, town officials and members of the Boracay Special Tourist Police Office ordered the Boracay West Cove resort to immediately stop its operations for lack of business, building and occupancy permits.

The mayor directed the resort management not to accept new guests after those billeted at the resort have checked out. The officials also warned the resort management that the structures will be padlocked if the closure order is defied.
West Cove owner businessman Crisostomo Aquino said the closure order violated the Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism Purposes (FLAgT) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to his resort.
A FLAgT, under the DENR Administrative Order No. 2004-59, allows the temporary use, occupation and development of any forest land for tourism purposes for a period of 25 years renewable for another 25 years.
FLAgT agreement covers forest lands to be used for bathing, campsites, ecotourism destinations, hotel sites and other tourism purposes.
The resort has villas, hugs a cliff and sits on a rock formation at Diniwid Beach in Barangay Yapak, an isolated area on the northern tip of the 1,032-hectare island. It is not visible from tourists and residents at the white beach, whose main entry point is the Cagban port at the opposite end of the island.
“They did not have a court order to close it down. I have instructed my staff not to accept new guests but we will contest the mayor’s order before the appropriate venues,” Aquino told the Inquirer in a telephone interview on Friday.
He said resort owners applied for permits at the municipal government but these have not been acted upon.
The DENR, then led by Joselito Atienza, issued a FLAgT to the resort late in 2009 despite calls from business groups Boracay Foundation Inc. and Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) to stop the operation of the resort for alleged violations including building of structures on rock formations.
The resort is widely rumored to be partly or fully owned by Pacquiao who stays at the resort when he is in Boracay. Aquino, Pacquiao and Atienza, a close friend of the boxing champion, have repeatedly denied these allegations. Read Full...

end of march and still windy

I just had a look a the forecast for the end of march.... and i gotta say, we live in Paradise.

Supposed to be the end of season, no more crowded Bulabog, a few beginner and the rest is all locals and those who work here. Thats the way we like Bulabog. Steady 15-20kt, sunshine and happy faces... Read Full...

the end is near

soon it's time again to say goodbye, flights are booked and bags are...not packed yet (-:
we will leave Boracay on the 14th of April towards Bangkok.We gotta do a nice shopping and foodfeast stopover for 2nights, maybe we will get a little wet aswell, as it will be the last day of Songkran, the biggest water battle in the world, supposed to be the Thai new year festival.

After that we will head for Switzerland, so i will be back on the 17th April... mark it for BBQ session!! And don't forgett the easter eggs...

Before we leave here we will do a kite and sightseeing trip up north to the rice terraces in Banaue and Sagada and the new wavespot in Pagudpud. We will be traveling with a bunch of friends, it will be good fun for sure (-: and worth another blog entry...

so to all my friends in swizzy land, i will cu soon again and to all my friends here... we had a great time and another windy season passed way to fast.. as usual

over and out.. Read Full...

high hopes for Boracay

This is a quote from an article about the destruction of Boracay's wetland. As long as nobody stops the rich, they will do whatever they want. Too much corruption in this country makes it nearly impossible to enforce the laws.
I think to work in the goverment is a good job in this country, specially Boracay, as you will defnitly not run out of bribe money as long as you alow the rich to build whatever they want. SAD SAD

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money."

Cree Indian Proverb

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7Stones KTA Boracay

it has only been a short break in between the Thailand and Philippines event, but we got it all sorted out and pulled another great event.

Boracay showed it's best side to the competitors and we were blessed wt endless winds and sunshine again.
So this was actually our last tour stop of this season, as we just got the news from Korea that the event is cancelled due to the political situation. So, no Korean kimchii for me this year.

The Boracay event wouldn't been possible without the great support from 7Stones Boracay, as the main event sponsor and organizer of the event, special thx to Dani and his crew. FANTASTIK job

I will not give a detailed report of the event, as Neil done that already on our website. Check it out here
www.kiteboardtour.asia

As u can see in the results my girlfriend Rebecka got the first place in TT-Race, wohooooo i'm proud of you!!

Frenchie pulled out another great KTA video to be watch here
http://vimeo.com/20915398

So whaz my plans now... i think i will do some trips around the Philippines probably Palawan and the far north end of the Philippines, Kingfisher for some more kiting.
My plans for the summer are not really worth the ink yet, as it is all written up in the stars. Might be some trips to Middle East, Asia and probably some judging on the KTE, which will have tour stops in France, Spain, Germany, Holland and Poland this summer. Maybe i will also get a job for a few months and work a little bit in Switzerland and enjoy family and friends there for a while.

Life is a beach and tomorrow is another day... so i will keep movin on and around the world for a little longer.
We also got a few new KTA projects and i might get busier around Asia.

So i will keep u updated once it's fixed.

thx to the KTA Team for a great season (-:

Stephan Read Full...

KTA Boracay

We had another great kite event in Boracay. The wind was playing with us for the whole event, but we managed to get it all done. 3 races and a full freestyle double elimination. Not to forget the great party venues and dinners each night.

Boracay is about to get empty slowly, all the kiteboarding instructors are about to leave the island and heading back to europe for the summer season to start over there.
We got one more event in Thailand to go... our final tour stop, with the anouncement of the KTA tour winner in freestyle and race.

Check out our KTA page to stay tuned!!

I will be in Thailand from the 16th of March to the 5th of April. I'm really looking forward to some great thai food and i heard songkran is also these days... ohohhhhhh
The food here Boracay is still far from exciting, so i'm cooking my own dinners most of the nights.
How can it be so close to all those countrys like china, vietnam, thailand which are among the best food experieces, and the Philippines in the middle of it just don't have it.


so long and have fun in the snow...
wont be back before May June... (-: Read Full...