Surfers set for Madang

By HENRY MORABANG
MORE than 50 surfers and officials will attend the PNG Kumul Longboard World Championships hosted by Tupira Surfing Club in Bogia, Madang, next month.
Surfing Association PNG president Andrew Abel said 18 women and 36 men were confirmed to take part in the weeklong surfing championships.
The visiting surfers are expected to arrive on March 17-18 and move on to Madang for transportation to the surfing site at Ulingan Bay, along the Madang-Bogia highway.
Last year’s champions, Phil Rajman from Brazil and Steve Sawyer from South Africa, have yet to confirm their attendance.
The Brazilian won the Longboard World Championships at Wanning, China, last December.
The PNG Kumul LongBoard World Championships is the third event on the World Surfing League calendar for this year after the Tama He’e Classics (Papara, Tahiti, March 13-18), Volte Wets Suit at Kingcliff, NSW March 15).
It is hoped that many surfers from the Wetsuit surfing championships would travel to Papua New Guinea to take part in the March 18-25 world event.
The world surfing event is supported by Kumul Consolidated Holdings with a K1 million sponsorship. Abel thanked other sponsors such as Helifix who recently joined the sponsorship bandwagon as silver sponsors.  As part of the sponsorship, Helifix’s founding helicopter will be providing emergency services  at the meet. The helicopter will also be carrying a streamer advertising all support sponsors.