ALAMINOS CITY— Home-court advantage and familiarity with the Lingayen Gulf-South China Sea waters worked well in favor of local paddlers from Barangay Bolo and Telbang here during last weekend’s Philippine Kayaking Series 2009 race.

The winning pair of Edgar Bolina and Edgar Eleccion in the 25-kilometer kayak marathon lost some precious minutes near the first rock-island when their kayak capsized after having a good start ahead of 19 competitors.

The champions are neophytes in the sports, having no experience in using a Minnow polytherene plastic kayak and paddles.

The duo reached the finish line within 3 hours and 10 minutes, an hour earlier than what race organizers Val and Didi Camara predicted.

However, their experience as deep-sea fishermen using traditional wooden bancas in the area allowed them to easily adapt to the gear for kayaking.

“It’s our first time to ride a kayak. We were recruited to represent Bolo only a few hours before the race because no one wanted to take the risk so we had to figure out things while aboard on the two-man pink plastic boat,” said Eleccion.

During the race, one of his paddle’s blades broke but they still managed to battle strong winds and high tide at kilometer 23.

Members of a media group’s boat following the race cheered when they saw Eleccion raising his one-bladed paddle and furiously punching the air.

“I was hoping someone would notice my plight and mercifully give me a new paddle but some people thought I just looked funny,” he said in a post- race interview. A support boat, indeed, saw him on their way back and supplied him with a new one for added speed and comfort.

Second place went to the duo of German Paz and Reneric Moreno of Anilao, Batangas. Paz comes from a family of windsurfers and a national team member, while Moreno is a regular water sports contestant. They timed in at three hours and 11 minutes.

The Donato brothers, Efren and Dennis, crossed the finish line in three hour sand 13 minutes.—LM

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