Winds howl, sailors fly in Penghu

Sailors round a mark during yesterday's slalom event at the Penghu Pro-Am. PHOTO: PROTEUS SPORT

Lower money and sagging government support have muted much of the buzz at this year's Penghu Pro-Am, a professional windsurfing competition now in its fourth year, but that hasn't stopped Penghu's incredible winds or Robbie Radis, the Australian pro who's poised to take the title.

Last year, with cash prizes totaling US$18,500, the competition attracted a handful of the world's top sailors, including Radis, Frenchman Antoine Albeau and Hawaiian Matt Pritchard, who walked off with first place and US$5,000.

This year, with a total pot of only US$8,000, Radis is the only top pro in attendance. Going into today's final race, he has enough wins to guarantee him a first place finish and the accompanying prize of US$1,600.

"It's just not enough money to attract all the top talent," commented Kao Pao-hsin, secretary general of the Penghu Sailing Committee and the main local organizer for the event.

Regular Penghu sailors, meanwhile, provided other reasons for the absence of Albeau and others.

"They're scared they'll get hurt. In this kind of wind, you always risk an injury, and the way these guys are, if they're here they're gonna go full out," commented one expatriate, a Penghu veteran.

Winds were a staggering 40 to 45 knots, with gusts up to 48 knots. At the end of the racing, Radis commented, "I ate shit twice, got blown down the stairs and nicked my board, and I'm the one that's winning."

Radis first place in the only race Thursday before going on to win both races yesterday in lighter winds of 30 knots, with gusts up to 40 knots. Alex Mowday, an Australian expat and a Penghu regular, has taken second place in each race so far, at least once coming within two meters of stealing one from Radis at the finish line.

Local have also fared well, with Hsing Jin-lung, Lin Zai-ho and Huang Mao-lung finishing at the head of every pack.

Though all registered in the Open category, all have finished ahead of the two Japanese pro sailors in the event, and threaten to take overall positions three through five.

"If you've never sailed here before, you're going to have problems with these winds. It's a completely different kind of sailing," said Huang, who lives in Hsinchu but comes to Penghu regularly.

The budget for the Pro-Am is down this year for two reasons, competing events and new allocation channels. According to Kao, funding has been siphoned off by last month's 49er Grand Prix, a first time Olympic class sailing event held at the same site in Penghu, and the Cobia Tourism Festival, which celebrates Penghu's indigenous seafood and runs concurrently with the windsurfing races.

Also different, funding is being handled by the Penghu County government, instead of coming from the central government's Tourism Bureau as in years past.

The result of the changes was that the Pro-Am's budget was cut in half.

"I'm very discouraged. We can't do it like this again," said Kao.

The Pro-Am finishes today with the final slalom race in the morning and an endurance race in the afternoon.