MARIGOT—Day one of the first edition of the Caribbean Foiling Championships got off to a slow start on Orient Beach on Friday when the wind unfortunately failed to fill in, permitting only one afternoon race to be held.
40 motivated competitors gathered on Orient Bay early on Friday morning. Racers were a mix-group of seasoned kitefoilers and windfoilers from neighbouring Caribbean islands and abroad, together with young riders who were eager to show their skills in foiling.
Participants came from afar as Greece, the Netherlands, France, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Antigua & Barbuda, and Martinique. The Guadeloupe windfoiler team even chartered their own plane to come down due to the large volume of gear.
As the race was scheduled to start at 8.00 a.m., all competitors were ready early and in high spirits. The first race planned was the Around the Island Race, with the record held by Sebastien Queney from Guadeloupe who completed the tour in 1 hour and 29 minutes last year. As the championships has two categories, a professional and a leisure category, many professional riders were eager to break this record.
Most of the younger riders, like Ella Geiger (14) from Antigua and Justin Pieterse (15) from Sint Maarten, had never raced in a long-distance race before. Nolan Bourgeois (14) wind foiler from Guadeloupe said: “I am a bit nervous but I really want to make it to the finish line, and I think I can even challenge some of the adults.”
Female riders were also keen to show their skills and have fun. “It’s not my first time in St. Martin but first time foiling here” said Cora Maziere from Martinique, backed up by her team of supporters.
Unfortunately, the wind was too low and the weather became overcast. While waiting for the wind to pick up, contestants happily mingled together and shared their foiling stories.
Eventually, Race Officer and Emmanuel Demanez, owner at Windsurf Adventures in Orient Bay, decided the around island race could not take place under those conditions for safety, which is a top priority for the Caribbean Foiling Championships.
It was then decided to run a race around Tintamarre. After lunch break, the wind finally picked up and the sun got out as competitors were busy preparing their kitefoils and windfoils.
Referees from the French Federation of Sailing (FFS) coming from Guadeloupe gave the go-ahead for the race. Windfoilers started first, followed by the professional kitefoilers. The strength of the wind remained a challenge and a couple had to drop out, helped by the rescue boats of Wind Adventures. The leisure category race was cancelled as it would have been too difficult for contestants to go upwind.
Young Eliott Pierre-Heym from St. Martin was the last to make it to the finish line on his windfoil. Maite Benvenu, also racing on a windfoil, said: “With this low wind it was difficult to race but the color of the water is so nice and we saw dolphins on the way back!”.
The event is still on for Saturday and Sunday in Orient Bay, where professional and leisure foilers alike are ready to put on a show and encourage more people to try out this new sport.
