Bonair prokids freestyle IFCA

Day 1,July 29
Today it was the first day of the 2010 IFCA Pro Kids Junior and Youth Freestyle World Championships in Sorobon, Bonaire.
60 competitors in ages between 9 and 19 years are competing to be IFCA World Champion Freestyle .
At the start of the event the wind conditions where very poor. The Race organization decided to postpone all races. At about 14.30 the wind picked up a little and the U11, U13 and U15 where send afloat. With very poor wind conditions they showed their low wind tricks. The judges had a hard job with the high level of the competitors.

In the U13 and U15 Steven Max came back after losing heat 3 and heat 7. In the U11 Oscar Etmon did the same after losing heat 3.
The winners of the first elimination:
U15: Amado Vrieswijk, Steven Max, Nicolas Hibdiche.
U13: Steven Max, Stephard Gustowski, Aron Etmon.
U11: Alex Halank, Oscar Etmon, Tuur Buedts.

For the U20 and U17 the wind conditions were still to poor. The Race organization decided to hold them ashore and wait for more wind for planning conditions.

Day 2,July 30
The day began again with almost no wind. For Bonaire these are very strange conditions. The Race officer Viktor Wijnand decided to run a Flow Style competition for all competitors. This was a great succes thanks to Cesar Finies who shows his cool tricks on the blue waters of Sorobon beach, everybody tried to copy him.
I got in 3d behind Steven Max and Stepherd Butowski.
At 17:00 the wind picked up to planning conditions and the Under 20 and Under 17 could start the first elimination rounds. Unfortunately some competitors did not expect a start so late and left the racing area already and missed the start of the first elimination.
Fortunately most competitors showed up in time to participate in the second elimination for the U20 en U17, which will finish tomorrow.

The results:
U20: 1st Hendryck Balentien, 2nd Rick Jenrusch.
U17: 1st Rafael de Wind, 2Nd Rick Jendrusch and 3rd Milan Gielingh.

Day 3,July 31
Again the day started with low wind. This day included rain and thunder. The race officer decided to keep the competitors ashore.
Like yesterday the wind picked up at 17:00. To use this wind optimal the Freestyle elimination of the U17 and U20 of yesterday was finished.
The winners:
U20 1. Hendryck Balentien, 2. Rick Jendrusch and 3. Enzi Heymans.
The overall leader is Hendryck (1.4 pnts) followed by Rick (4 pnts).
U17 two finals where necessary to have a winner. 1. Dylan Robles, 2. Amado Vrieswijk and 3. Rick Jendrusch. The overall leader in the U17 is Rafael de Wind (4.7 pnts) followed by Rick (5 pnts).
At the same time the Slalom of the Men, U11, U13 and U15 was raced. I was the winner of slalom U13.

Day 4,August 1
Today there where no freestyle and slalom races for me.

The final results:

Freestyle:
Class U13
1 Max, Steven
2 Gustowski, Stepherd
3 Etmon, Aron

Class U11
1 Halank, Alex
2 Etmon, Oscar
3 Buedts, Tuur

Slalom:
U13
1 Etmon, Aron Cur 2 (me)
2 Gustowski, Stepherd
3 Stomp, Noa Cur 777

U11
1 Hanlank, Alex AUS 2001
2 Etmon, Oscar Cur 211
3 Buedts, Tuur B 1

Cabarete Classics

Monday July 12 we flew with our sponsor Insel Air from Curaçao to the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After we picked up our cars and had dinner we left about 7:00pm and arrived in Cabarete at 10:30pm.

Tuesday July 13 after a good night sleep we rigged up our gear to train with our I Hang Loose Wind Surf Team. Very soon other locals came to join us and already a little competition was going on.
Everybody was very nice to us and we made a lot of new friends on that day.

Wednesday July 14 we woke up with rain, when the rain stopped there was no wind but since the waves where perfect for body boarding. So that’s what we did. We met Christopher and he asked us to go body boarding with him, great thing is his dad is the owner of Vela Windsurf Resort in Cabarete and he arranged the body boards for us. Thanks’, it was a very cool experience since we do not have those waves in Curaçao!
We also did our registration and got a nice Cabarete Classics 2010 t-shirt. I am in the “Under 14” category. We also met Philip Soltysiak, CAN 9, PWA Freestyler. Funny thing was he did not know how to rig his new slalom sail so we helped him.

Thursday July 15 Today there were 20 knots and giant waves, I rigged up my 5.4 Nort Sails Warp, when I entered the water a big wave did break on my sail and I broke my sail lat.I was lucky that my coach Perry van der Wolde was there to repair it. In the Slalom I used my 6.3 North Sails Warp and after 5 heats I came in 2nd. Jean Patrick van der Wolde came in 1st in “Under 18”.

Friday July 16 at the start of my first heat I was washed by a giant wave and my board hit my shoulder very hard. The waves where so high that all competitors including the locals went back to shore even before the cancellation flag was up. The race was cancelled because the lack of wind and big waves coming from everywhere.
We played carts all day and went body boarding again.

Saturday July 17 Today Freestyle, about 16 knots and since I am not a professional freestyler yet I had difficulties with my jumps. It was double eliminations so after the first round I got a Second chance but I lost that one too because I only did a Switch Stand Vulcan, my other attempts doing a Vulcan were doomed because the lack of wind. Milan Gielingh of our team won 3th price a very good result since this is one of his first freestyle event he competed in. After the Freestyle, Slalom was planned but there was the rain again and after the rain, no wind so Slalom was cancelled.

Sunday July 18 Long Distance Day. As a team we decided not to risk our gear and lives and stayed on the beach. Steven Max was the youngest competitor ever to race and finish this Long Distance. My dad was in 2nd place for a long time but at the end he finished in the boat since his mind wanted to race but his body did not, he could not keep up with the younger guys, sorry dad!

The experience I had in Cabarete will help me to be a better Windsurfer. Also the local surfers became good friends and I hope they have a chance to compete in other events as well.
Pablito Guzman is doing a great job through helping disadvantaged children to be able to learn and participate in the great sport of windsurfing. I like to thank Pablito and the organization for this nice event.
Also I would like to thank al my sponsors who made it possible for our team to travel to events like this.

Aruba Hi-Winds

A picture of Mack and me racing.

I left on Saturday June 24, a few days before the start of the Hi Winds Event so I could train on the blue waters of Aruba.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday had about 18 knots. I had very nice training sessions with the surfers from Aruba with many tips back and forward.
Wednesday morning I woke up with a cold but I did not rest as my mom told me but instead went surfing….. The winds started to attract more and blew about 20 knots, the next few days would be even better. Super because I Hang Loose Members do well with high winds. Wednesday afternoon it was time to sign up. I was in the "Super Kids" division. It was exciting because all the boys in this group have nearly the same level.
On Thursday morning the wind was about 21 knots. I still did not feel cool and I started a couple of times at the end of the group. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough energy to catch up later in the race. I finished that day 5th after 8 heats. On Friday it was once again slalom. I surfed 6 heats and was 2 x 1st. As a result, during this day I ended up on the 2nd place and overall on 4th place.
On Saturday, the wind was gusty. The Long Distance race of the Super Kids was exciting. The first 4 rounds were a battle between Steven Lageveen and me. After that, however, the wind on some parts of the course was totally gone, I stopped planing and lost my second place and ended up on the 5th place.
Sunday it was time for the Freestyle competitions. For me, it was the first time to compete in a Freestyle competition and ended up on a 6th place in a group of 13 freestylers, not to bad for a beginner!
Monday all races were cancelled due to lack of wind so everyone had more then enough time to pack their surf gear. In the evening the prize-giving ceremony took place. Unfortunately I ended up on a 4th place overall. Jean Patric van der Wolde and his dad Perry, other members of our I Hang Loose Wind Surf Team ended up on 4th place too.
However, my younger brother Oscar won a Neil Pride sail by winning 1st prize in Slalom and a 3rd prize in Freestyle.
All in all, the Hi Winds was a successful and very well organized event. Next year is an anniversary year and we will be back to be a part of it. A big thank you to the Hi Winds organization, they made this event a perfect one.
Also I would like to thank all team sponsors who made it possible to compete in the Hi Winds.

See you next week at the Cabarete Classics in the Dominican Republic (12-19 July 2010)!