South/Middle American Champs

results after first day

www.facebook.com/MagneticIslandyoga

Graeme's blog:

Day 1
Here we are funky kiters in Bonaire, where racing started today at 1pm. It's a 100point race event that goes towards international ranking...I'm here for the crumbs :)

Essentially the SF crew have flown out here without the SF locals like JH and Chip etc. with the addition of a few others like Florian Gruber.

9-11m day, swell with fair chop out back. The front dudes were finishing in around 13mins.

It was Riccardo's day. Flo is out of form and still nursing the flew and is without high strong wind fins so he's battling the odds. Blasco was 2nd and Florian 3rd.

Marvin Baumeister is not a happy camper, a tuff day all round.
Bonaire is a Caribbean island just north of Venezuela. The name Bonaire which means "Good Air" is a combination of both Spanish and Dutch

- some info about Bonaire if you're interested....
The Official language is Dutch. The land Area is 294 km2 with a Population of about 17000.

Bonaire's earliest known inhabitants were the Caquetio Indians who came by canoe from Venezuela in about AD 1000. Caquetios were apparently a very tall people, the Spanish name became 'the islands of the giants.'

In 1499, the Spanish conquerors decided that the three Islands were useless, and in 1515 the natives were forcibly deported to work as slaves in the copper mines on the island of Hispaniola....as you do when the peaceful, gun less natives have no other commercial value.

Today, Bonaire is also consistently recognized as one of the best destinations for snorkeling. Wind and kite surfers also make a strong group of island tourists - the east side of the island has the large waves and strong consistent wind. The island is ringed by a coral reef which is accessible from the shore along the Western and Southern sides. Furthermore, the entire coastline of the island has been declared a marine sanctuary, preserving local fish life. Just outside our hotel room, 50m walk, is awesome snorkeling.
Bonaire also has several coral reefs where seahorses can be found.

Lac bay on the eastern side of the island, is a windsurfer's paradise. Locals Taty and Tonky Frans in 2004 were ranked in the top five of the world's freestyle windsurfing professionals.
Atlantis Beach, on the western part of the island, is the local kitesurfing spot.

Results look pretty good though for Marv, 11th after 4 races

www.sailwave.com/results/2013SMAKiteracingOpeningSeries.html

keep it up marv, doing good buddy .