Good winds for last day of KTA in Mui Ne

The winner’s podium for the KTA twin tip course racing. (L-R) Nguyen Ngoc Kim (Vietnam) second place, Ken Nacor (Philipines) first, Lai Hong Phi (Vietnam) third - Photo: Alexandru Baranescu

Nature smiled Sunday on the third round of the Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) contest in Mui Ne with a full day of 20 knot winds making for some exciting course racing and freestyle events.

Over 100 competitors from 23 nations had waited for the wind for four almost windless days since the event had started last Wednesday.

Except for two races that were held in 15 knot winds late Friday afternoon, the KTA events were all held Sunday when the forecast winds finally arrived to the resort town that has earned an international reputation as the mecca of Vietnam kitesurfing.

“It couldn’t happen any better. The winds started early and went to the end of the day. We got all the results. It was a godsend,” said KTA tour organizer Willy Kerr adding the results were very important to competitors for world rankings.

A 16-year-old Japanese girl, Aya Oshima, beat last year’s tour champion, Kathrin Borgwardt from Germany, to win the freestyle in the women’s category. Borgwardt won the women’s course racing.

In another upset, last year’s Asian Champion, Thai kitesurfer, Narapichit Pudla, was beaten by the Japanese champion, Hiro Nakano, in the men’s freestyle.

After an uneventful week, Sunday’s big crowds were treated to some close-to-the shore wave riding from the freestylers as they played in the dumping Mui Ne shore break outside Wax nightclub.

In the men’s course racing, where kitesurfers use specialized racing boards, Heikki Gross from Estonia beat Tayner Aykurt in second place from Turkey who won out of the Asians. Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Kim came sixth.

Kim came second in the twin tip course racing division. He was beaten by Ken Nacor from the Philipines. Kim’s team mate, Lai Hong Phi, came third.

Lai Hong Phi is the only Vietnamese in the KTA who has world rankings, ranked number 113 at the end of last year. Both Kim and Phi are fully sponsored to travel to all the rounds in this year’s KTA.

So far, 2011 rounds one and two were in China and Turkey with the next rounds in Thailand, the Philippines, and Korea.

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Illegal Motorbike Racing: A Comprehensive Approach

Tackling the issue of illegal motorbike racing requires comprehensive efforts of authorities, families and communities

Minh Nhat has yet to turn 18 years of age. But this teenager who performs poorly in school and whose family is poor has recently been fined by traffic police for driving high-capacity motorcycles, and encouraging and engaging in illegal racing.

Hoang Phuc, one of Minh Nhat’s peers, received a police ticket for running his motorbike on one wheel. Also, at the time of his violation, like Minh Nhat, Phuc couldn’t produce his driver’s license, ID, or the insurance policy.
The above stories, featured in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, are just two of many others covered by the local press, which has captivated public attention during this past week. The public’s growing concern: illegal motorbike racing.
Roughly a month ago, HCM City Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Tai, also vice head of the city’s traffic safety board, presided over a meeting which promoted September as “Traffic Safety Month.”

Entitled “Traffic Culture for the Sake of the Community’s Safety and Urban Order and Civilization,” the campaign aimed to scale down the number of deaths and injuries caused by traffic accidents in Vietnam’s most populous city.

As part of the enforcement to be tightened during the month, HCM City traffic cops would strictly punish traffic violators, in particular, illegal motorbike racing.

During a meeting held last Friday to discuss the issue of illegal motorbike racing, statistics released by Vo Van Van, deputy head of HCM City traffic police, were alarming. In the first nine month, traffic police officers intercepted almost 240 illegal motorbike races in which they temporarily detained close to 2,500 vehicles. On average, almost one illegal race occurred every day (often at night)! Yet this figure is way below the real ones which actually occurred, according to estimates by the well-informed.

In the same meeting, Dr. Ton That Quynh Ai, head of the emergency ward of Cho Ray Hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in town, told delegates that every day, the hospital received about 50 cases of traffic accidents. As the majority of the accidents happened while the drivers were doing at high speed, injuries were extremely serious. Those who escape death are often disabled for life and have to cover high treatment costs.

Despite all the bad consequences, illegal motorbike racing in Saigon has been on the rise recently. Illegal racers come from not only rich families that can afford them expensive vehicles but also from poor ones that can hardly make both ends meet.

Needless to say, traffic police remain the driving force in fighting illegal motorbike racing. However, police forces alone cannot solve the problem, many have argued. This task requires the participation of all social strata, in which families and communities play a crucial role.

In line with the above consensus, Minh Nhat and Hoang Phuc, the two violators mentioned in the beginning of this article, had to review their violations in the presence of their family members and neighbors. Both Nhat and Phuc promised not to repeat the violation again.

Some of such reviews by illegal racers would be aired on local television channels as a way to warn against future motorbike racing.

Illegal motorbike racing poses yet another youth problem that needs to be tackled. Just like video-game addiction, solving the issue of illegal racing requires a comprehensive approach, not only from authorities but also from families and communities.

Much has been talked about creating appropriate playgrounds for the youth. But not much has actually materialized.

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