2011 Aruba Hi Winds Grand Slam – Day one: A tropical thunderstorm puts a pause on the Caribbean trade winds leaving the sailors waiting anxiously on standby in Aruba’s blazing sun.
Competitions opening day in Aruba was greeted with overcast skies and a gentle offshore breeze, putting a relaxed feel to the registration and skippers’ meeting. As the morning progressed the 42 men and 8 women sailors waited patiently as the clouds burnt away and the breeze increased.
In an attempt to kick start proceedings the PWA crew headed out to sea to their floating judge’s platform, however the building wind still remained insufficient to run any heats. Teased by the occasional gust the sailors worked their way onto the plane in order to iron out any faults in their armor of tricks, whilst the crowds on the beach enjoyed the afternoon sun and some relaxing tunes from the main competition tent.
Freestyle magician Max Rowe (Fanatic / North) currently sits in 12th place on the 2011 world tour, he has provided the PWA with his overall impression on Aruba’s competition area.
“It is an amazing location and a really beautiful island, the event is really impressive with a huge tent on the beach filled with a big crowd ready to see the action. On the water the conditions really contrast Bonaire, the wind blows offshore so it will always be gusty and it seems quite choppy too. However I don’t think this will have an effect on the sailor’s performance, and we can expect to see a really exciting competition this week. Fingers crossed for more wind tomorrow!”
With little change later in the afternoon head judge Duncan Coombs released the sailors for the day at 4.30 pm, marking the end of the first day of competition.
Day two of competition will kick off with the skippers meeting at 9:30 tomorrow morning, with a first possible start to the heats at 10am.
Scope The Action
For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com
– Live ticker service for heat-by-heat bulletins
– Check live elimination ladders
– View results
– Read daily news summaries
– Browse awesome action photo galleries
– Follow the event live, with top class commentary from pros and industry insiders.
There’s also a dedicated event website which can be found at http://hiwinds-aruba.com
Or for more information, please contact the PWA office via [email protected]
