Channel NewsAsia - 54 minutes
ago
SINGAPORE: Kiteboarding is gaining more fans in Singapore and
enthusiasts hope they can soon form an official affiliation.
They are known as 'kiters’ and at least 30 of them surf along
the eastern coast of Singapore every weekend. The sport has been
winning more fans, especially over the last three years.
Edmund Tang, a sea sport enthusiast, said: "I have been
windsurfing for the last 20 years — wakeboarding, jet skiing and
all that. And I find that kiteboarding will be the next big
thing."
Vincent Lam, Kiteboarding Instructor, said: "The mid—aged people
are into the sport. I think if Singapore would make it more
popular, the awareness will be better for the sport. I think the
younger generation will be interested as well."
Kiteboarding makes use of a hand—held kite and a board, to
propel the 'kiter’.
Kiteboarding enthusiasts said this sport can be addictive. Aaron
Yang is a competitive kiteboarder.
The 27—year—old won second place at a South Korean kiteboarding
competition in 2007. He was the only Singaporean at the event.
Competitive Kiteboarder, Aaron Yang, said: "There is a big
potential, it’s just whether you want to do it or not and the guys
here are actually quite good. The main Asian level isn’t so high
that we can’t catch up to it."
But kiteboarding is not cheap. The gear costs about
US$2,000.
But that’s not enough to keep the 'kiters’ away. They’d like to
form a kiteboarders’ association in Singapore because they said
that only then would the sport truly take off. — CNA/vm