King Of The Caribbean - A New Event In The PWA Schedule
The newest event in the PWA’s ever-growing tour is the aptly titled King of the Caribbean. Although added late in the season, organizers have worked tirelessly to stage what is expected to be a new classic in the PWA Freestyle Championship. We talked to event organizer Elvis Martinus about some of the details involved in staging this new freestyle competition.
PWA: This is your first time organizing a PWA event in Bonaire, The King of the Caribbean. It’s a huge commitment! What prompted you to do this event?
EM: For several years Bonaire has been sending young people to the amateur events and performing well. And this year the island had its first “professional” windsurfers so we thought this would be the year to host a major event. It has been a dream of mine for many years.
PWA: When did you make the decision to go ahead – it was the last event to go on the PWA Calendar!
EM: An event idea started at the Bonaire Regatta in October of 2001. The talking started to get serious in March of 2002, but this is a big undertaking for such a small island. Since it was the first major windsurfing event here a lot of things had to happen before we could confirm all the details and funding. But we are on the calendar now and intend to continue.
PWA: How has the local community responded, are there any special events and attractions being organized to coincide with the competition.
EM: The local community has been great. There are over 100 sponsors and donors for the event. Several of the local communities are hosting traditional fiestas for the event. For the opening Ceremony there will be an event we call “A Taste of Bonaire” where people can taste the food of 10 of the local restaurants.
The next night there will be a dinner party with a traditional Bonaire “fire jumping” festival, steel band and folkloric dancers. There is also a beach party and dinner at one of the hotels one night, a waterside BBQ to show video footage, the Amateur Awards night and a “cultural” night in the town of Rincon. The last night, after the Awards Ceremony, we have a “Celebrate with the Winners” event at Casino Caribe where everyone has the chance to win a free week at a Bonaire Resort.
PWA: Did you seek out major sponsorship first - you appear to have in excess of thirty sponsors, which is very unusual for a PWA event!
EM: It is now over 100 sponsors. And yes, we needed to know that we would have sufficient funding before we could commit to such a major expense. Maduro & Curiel’s Bank, our major local bank, became the prime sponsor and that gave us the seed money to move ahead.
As I mentioned, it is a small community and it is difficult to find large donors but almost every tourism-related business made some contribution to the effort. Our hope is to prove the success of this first event and then find international commercial sponsors for the future years.
The media coverage we have generated before the event and that which will follow will make it an extremely attractive venue for sponsors. We have a Dutch Sports TV crew making a TV program, which will run eight times in Holland. Media from the surrounding islands are here as well as representatives of most of the major windsurfing magazines around the world. There was a video news release that went out before the event and one will go out after. Of course we had a commercial running for on our local TV station and in Curacao. And then there is the 25-minute PWA World Tour TV program. This will be very good international exposure for any major sponsor
PWA: The success of the Bonaire team, especially Tonky Frans, ranked 6th Freestyle, has been impressive, did this impact your decision to organize the event?
EM: The fact that three of the Bonaire sailors have turned Pro this year gave us a great push. And there are five more entered as wild cards in this King of the Caribbean competition. But wait until you see our 3 and 5-year-old sailors in the Amateur events!
PWA: How have you managed the logistics of putting on this event, did you have a large staff?
EM: The event has been organized mostly by a group of 10 volunteers. Only one person from the USA has received a small salary to help cover travel expenses. And the entire community has willingly pitched in to help.
PWA: Was it a nightmare, or was it fun?
EM: It is a lot of work, especially when you do it for the first time. The team has learned a great deal so hopefully it will be easier in future years. Some of the infrastructure tasks like building the judging stand will not be necessary in future. This structure had to be sturdy but could not be “permanent” because the beach area and all of Lac Bay are nature-protected areas.
The biggest nightmare has been the airlift and cargo issues. We have learned a lot about this and already have plans in place to solve most of these problems in future years. It’s one of those things you have to experience but we have people working at very high levels to solve it.
Our airlift picture has improved dramatically within the last month. Bonaire now has daily service from the USA and twice a day from Europe. We hope to have very attractive packages for future tourists and for competitors in upcoming events.
PWA: Tell us about the merchandising you have put into place for this event.
EM: There are street banners, posters and booklets for tourists all over the island. We want to attract some of the many scuba divers who are visiting this week also. We have T-shirts, hats, tank tops and other items with the King of the Caribbean logo so everyone will remember the great time on Bonaire. The posters were also put up on Curacao, Aruba and Isla Margarita in Venezuela.
PWA: Can the public buy anything on-line?
EM: Hey, that’s a good idea. We can put some photos on our website at www.bonaireworldfreestyle.com and make the offer.
PWA: What is it about Bonaire that has attracted the top professional windsurfers in the world for the final of the PWA Freestyle World Tour 2002?
EM: It looks like we have 44 professionals here now. Perhaps it is the fact that the competition for the championship is very close but could be wide open for a number of the sailors. Or maybe our Bonaire sailors Tonky, Tati and Keke have convinced the others what a great place it is to windsurf. The competition has not started yet but the pros are enjoying the good wind and beautiful Lac Bay. Several have said: “Now I know why your guys are so good.” Beat Steffan said today he thought this is one of the best freestyle locations he has seen.
PWA: You are currently on the PWA calendar for another King of the Caribbean in December 2003, how do you feel about that? Or should we ask you after this event has finished?
EM: We hope to have the King of the Caribbean event and the PWA World Championship Freestyle Finals every year. I think we should ask the Pros what they think about it when it is over. But we think they will enjoy our wind and our wonderful, tranquil island with its friendly, happy people so they will want to return. Funny thing is that December is not our highest wind month. You can see our 30-year monthly wind chart at the website www.bonairefreestyle.com and be amazed.