WordsHerbert Hamilton // Photos Caro Chopite & Arjuna Maciel
DeAction Man (Brian Talma) has travelled the world exploring new destinations and thought he knew many of the best windsurfing spots in the world, especially in the Caribbean. But Diony Guadagnino had a surprise for him, islands off Venezuela with some of the best waves in the world and wind too. Keen to check out for himself and his crew, this is the story of DeAction Man and the Beach Culture World Tour (BCWT) World Championships rocking Los Roques.
JET SET DeAction Man is on a private military plane approaching Los Roques. We see patches of small land masses surrounded by bright turquoise blues and bright white sandy beaches, white caps and the sea sparkling where the sun hits, then lines of white signifying waves. Everything is close and direct, the fishing boats, people’s faces and we glide into touchdown, a gust of wind pushing the plane sideways. DeAction Man exited the plane as his equipment was unloaded out of the back of the aircraft, there is a taste of magic in the air. I glance over my shoulder, I see a dog strolling across the runway, it is an open area with no fences. We thought things were going to be formal, but quite to the contrary, the military were warm and intrigued by DeAction Man.
The island has about 2,000 people and everybody was amped, especially the children. This is definitely what makes Los Roques. Diony always had an entourage of them spiralling around him ready for his commands. It was a five-minute walk through these sandy beach streets to the Hotel Galapagos, the base for the BCWT pro riders for the next week. We were greeted by our elegant host Paula, she had this warm inner beauty, we are at home.
The players, entertainers and superheroes emerged from the surrounding islands to the opening party at Aquarenas. This competition is all about who has the most fun both on and off the water and also the guy who can score the best media at the same time. Let’s meet the contenders!
DIONY GUAGAGNINO Representing Venezuela was Diony, aka “Good Vibes”. At only 17 years old he won the most prestigious freestyle event in the world at the time, the King of the Lake in Italy, the birthplace of freestyle. He brought this talent and energy back to his home island of Margarita and paved the way for other athletes like Ricardo and Gollito to turn professional. He is one of the best freestylers and wave sailors coming out of South America. He had organized and coordinated the event by pulling the athletes, sponsorship and the Government together to stage a Beach Culture World Tour World Championship in Los Roques. He provided the local kids with windsurfing equipment and gave them the inspiration to the possibilities that exist within action sports. His generosity is renowned throughout the world.
RICARDO CAMPELLO Also representing Venezuela was Ricardo aka “Fly Star” who arrived with his beautiful girlfriend Diana. He has claimed three world titles on the PWA freestyle tour and is one of the most radical wave sailors in the world, ever innovating spectacular new moves.
GOLLITO ESTREDO Gollito and Airton arrived on Gollito’s speedboat, making their presence known in style. Gollito is the most successful freestyle windsurfer in the world with seven freestyle world championship titles and is the present freestyle world champ. Representing Venezuela, he is the ultimate competitor, having the determination and focus to win any event. He’s the man; you never know what new moves he will bring to a competitive environment.
AIRTON COZZOLINO Airton had come for the ride with Gollito on his speedboat to explore Los Roques. He is one of the most diverse action water sports athletes in the world and the present strapless freestyle kitesurfing world champion. Representing Cape Verde, Africa, this man can dominate in surfing, windsurfing and SUP’ing but his strapless kitesurfing is mind-boggling. He has a natural flare and style in the water.
BRIAN TALMA Representing Barbados, Brian Talma, DeAction Man is a legend of action water sports and plays an important role in establishing windsurfing, kiteboarding and SUP’ing around the world. Now he focuses on his BCWT tour and entertaining the world.
COMPETITION TIME The first day of competition, it was off to Fisherman’s Island at a place called, “The Point”. There was a head high wave peeling from the point all the way through to the inner bay and a brisk side shore breeze.
Diony motivated the whole village to follow him to a small outpost, with a single shack facing the point break. It took us about an hour journey to get near the “The Point”. It was a sight to be seen, the children, youngsters, Coast Guards and paramedics all marching to “The Point” with boards, coolers and chairs under their arms.
With the majority of the surf spots around the world doubling as fishing spots, Los Roques is the perfect destination to nurture Beach Culture, which is a blend of the fishing community and the surf society. This island has a rich and authentic beach culture and Diony had energized this village to another level.
The local children were the pulse of this place, the way they strode with their independence. They roamed through the streets and to the outer islands with a confidence I hadn’t seen in a long time.
The competition zone was filling up; the inner point was filled with groms and the outer point was Los Roques elder rippers. The first of the pros out was Diony on his windsurfer; he had this undying glow as he dominated this place with his local knowledge. The sea was packed with windsurfers, kiteboarders, surfers and the lone SUP’er, DeAction Man, “Standing tall not afraid to fall!!”.
Life is a competition and it was competition time. From the corner of my eye I see an explosion of spray, it was Gollito. He was lighting up the sea with freestyle moves in the waves. Next to enter the dance is Airton, he pulled high into the sky, spinning and turning on his strapless kiteboard as he returned back down to earth with his feet miraculously still on the board. His kite high in the blues of the open sky. This man dominated the sea with his pure style and radical wave riding like nothing I’d seen before. He destroyed every lip and wave as they curled into the inner super shallow reef and he didn’t care if it swallowed him whole.
Ricardo “Fly Star” Campello emerged from the beach, not to be outshined, he showed his flexibility by switching from his dominant sport of windsurfing to kiteboarding. Ricardo rode the waves with typical radical ease. His girlfriend already giving him the win from shore with a wide grin.
But it was Airton’s energy and personality on the board which took the win, he was dominating and was voted the victor by the other pro riders.
PARTY TIME That night Airton had this little sparkle in his eyes as this was his celebration dinner. He realized the BCWT rules are interesting and you must play the game, so celebrated and partied like there was no tomorrow! As the dinner transcended into the open air of Los Roques nightlife, with music blasting and crazy karaoke, this is where Gollito & Airton stepped up their game. Gollito put the microphone to his mouth and started screeching some horrendously out of tune lyrics from Bob Marley. He didn’t care, as he knew the person who had the most fun wins! He pressures DeAction Man to sing one of his songs, he hesitantly takes the microphone, sputters out “Action! Action!! & More Action!! The brain smiles & life sings, happy rings & we dance!!!” Gollito grabs the mic back, and sinks into the couch and he continues through the night singing at ease. Diony dabbles into the mix but he has to focus on maintaining the flow of the competition. The night is starting to get energized, and the crew are enjoying themselves, but they are a little tired from the expression session. This is where Airton pulls his famous “Dormir” move, he says he going to sleep; deAction Man & Diony follow his lead, not knowing Airton returns to the disco along with Gollito and enjoys a full night of partying, having a lot of fun racking up the points.
CHILD’S PLAY Come the last day and Diony wasn’t finished yet and knew he needed more points. Diony had been training all the kids from the village to windsurf and today was graduation. It seemed like the whole community had congregated around this huge pond that bordered the village, the airport and green fields. It’s perfect for learning to windsurf for the kids. This is the place for an Organic Tourism Project in partnership with the local businesses and people to create healthy minds and a safe and prosperous community. This is what makes Los Roques so unique, vibrant locals and good vibes emanating through the sand.
DeAction Man was also trying to rack up points; he was busy painting the BCWT plaques for the closing party. The BCWT seed was planted, DeAction Man’s tool is his colourful art and spoken words to stimulate positive change. The BCWT logo signifies humanity and harmony within the community and rows of the BCWT trophies adorned with DeAction Man’s distinctive mahi mahi (fish) logo were ready to go. It’s time to determine the BCWT World Championship Los Roques winners with votes from all the media and BCWT pro riders. This is the time for the last bit of smack talk to persuade people to vote for you!
AWARD TIME It’s 9:30 pm and the votes are in and the whole island is waiting for the BCWT riders at the island’s square. They arrive to a huge crowd surrounding the podium. Much respect to Diony, he pulled off the BCWT World Championships in Los Roques and the related Organic Tourism Project by motivating the whole island to embrace this concept. This was his last act, and with the mic he took control of the show, whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his words and throwing away prizes.
The coveted Beach Culture plaque awaited all the competitors. DeAction Man’s belief is giving is living and his biggest move for the event was giving. He gave away his personal strapless board to local Eniel for kitesurfing and a sail to Oscar for windsurfing. As a visiting traveller, this was one of the most beautiful islands he ever visited because of the warmth & culture of the people and the conditions for windsurfing, surfing, SUP’ing and kiteboarding.
RESULTS
First was Airton with the title of BCWT World Champion Los Roques 2017, as voted for by the riders & media along with the results of the competition. He dominated on the water in all disciplines with an amazing ability to switch sports & personality. He definitely had the most fun and was always smiling!
Second was Diony; he also had pulled off the event and motivated the whole community to compete and be part of the energy. Let the good vibes roll was the theme of the event!
Third was Gollito who entertained the crowd with his kiteboarding and freestyle in the waves, along with a very entertaining boat trip that is probably best not talked about!
Fourth was DeAction Man, happy to be still standing at the end of the week; just having the BCWT, World Championship in Los Roques was a win for him.
Fifth and by no means least was Ricardo “Fly Star” Campello. Ricardo was missing in action for most of the competition, distracted by his beautiful girlfriend Diana and his boat, who could blame him with diversions like that!
With the awards over there was only one way to sum up the event – Los Roques rocks!
