ahhahaha Puerto Rico lo hace mejor siempre!

Did the Ozzie's streak the M/W/Y trophy presentation with their giant blow up Kangaroo? (Done at 2004 Mex Worlds)

I have a question: what happens to all the event boats? Do they get sold in US an Europe or just Europe or what? and how can i get my hands on one?
thanks

The event boats are sold by Hobie Cat Australasia. They sold most to the island here and are taking 20 back to OZ.

No chance of getting one in the US as they surely will sell all from there.

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It POURED RAIN last night. Man when it rains here... it is SOLID. The site is very wet and the beach is suffering from erosion done by the run off.

Now I understand why so many vehicles have snorkels. No kidding... snorkels to get through deep water. I have to get a shot of one for you.

Here are some shots from this morning. Boats are off the beach and into race 5 of the qualifying round. We have three days of qualifying then 3 days of semi followed by 2 days of finals.



More shots from this morning are linked from the Hobie forums.

Are there any Fijians competing? Or from the rest of the pacific for that matter?

Wow - Siau with a 5?! That's grrrrrreat!!

Yes, many from Fiji and the South Pacific. 26 countries are represented.

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Race 6 is on.

The wind has behaved and come up to about 15 kts. We will easily do 4 today (race 5-8). We will see if more can be squeezed in as the day goes on.

The scoring has been smooth. Results for the first race were posted on the notice board before the second set of boats left the beach.

The official entry list is here: http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2007/entrylist.html

These look to be the South Pacific Teams:

Shayne Brodie Torika Brodie FIJ Open
Bruce Clay Lee-Anne Lee FIJ Open
Hugh Maybin Samuel Maybin FIJ Open
Marshall Nusbaum Masha Proskouryakova FIJ Youth & Open
John Philp Truman Bradley FIJ Open
Matthew Sheppard Moape FIJ Open
Grahame Southwick TBA FIJ Grand Masters & Open
Tony Stearns Janet McCullough NMI Masters & Open
Didier Arnould Jennifer Delattre TAH Open
Michel Le Calvic Marie-Joseph Juen TAH Open
Michel Le Calvic Marie-Joseph Juen TAH Grand Masters
Teva Le Calvic Arnaud Bourdelon TAH Open
Francois Macouin Vaitea LO TAH Masters & Open
Eric Paofai Bernard Reichard TAH Open
Teiva VERONIQUE Moana LE CALVIC TAHITI Open
Damrongsak Vongtim Sakda Vongtim THA Open

Many French teams are actually from Nuemea such as this one... of my favorites!

Matt, thanks for the excellent reports, but how'd you get her to "pose" for you? All in the name of photo-journalism I guess... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Not my shot, but a nice one eh? That shot is on the event site.

We have been on hold hre this morning due to heavy rain and inconsistant wind direction.

The racing yesterday was cancelled due to rain and lack of wind, so the qualifying round was scored from the first two days of racing. We had a welcome party last night at the compound with an open bar with finger foods served all around. Due to some registered sailors not arriving, 49 teams were moved on into the main event. We now have 112 teams for the semi finals event. This will be three days of racing then a cut to 56 teams for the finals starting Thursday.

We start the semi finals today. This morning (Monday the 15th here at 12 PM) the wind is till light, but weather forecasts are for increasing breeze from the trade direction as a new high pressure arrives. The low we were in is still lingering though, so give a whistle for us (local custom to bring wind).

The boats are ready... the sailors a ready... we are ready on the beach...

Some new photos are posted over on the Hobie forums here:

http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=6397&start=0

2:15 PM and still on a weather hold. The wind is just sub 5 knots.

2:30 and OFF THE BEACH! is called.

Wind is 7-8 kts.

3:00 PM

Race One of the Hobie 16 (Open Division) World Championship is ON!!!

ALL CLEAR!!

Race one in the books.

Protest last night by Enrique Figueroa over an encounter with the lee end boat on the start line. He drifted with current into the boat. Apparently did not properly clear himself with a 360 turn. He had a 13th, but has had to retire from race one to avoid a DSQ by the judges.

Race number 2 is scheduled this morning. It is Tuesday the 16th here and 10:00 am. Boats are ready. We are waiting for the breeze to fill in. Looks like a clearing wind that should push the low pressure off by this afternoon or tomorrow. Our fingers are crossed and we are whistling for wind!

Matt, Many thanks for the FANTASTIC coverage! Please convey my thanks to the rest of the team, putting on the event, and taking pics etc... This should sell some boats!

We are off the beach for race 4.

Results for races are posted before the boats even hit the beach!

Check the scores here. Now through #3 in the semi http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2007/results/

More beach area pictures are posted over on the Hobie Cat forums and tons are up at the event site.

See event photos and videos here: http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2007/Imagegallery.html

Wednesday the 17th (9:40 AM)

We are ready and waiting for the wind to fill. Race 5 was completd last night. Today is the last day if the semi. Tonight we cut the fleet from 112 teams to 56 for the final. Using the round robin format, we have to finish even numbers of races. We are looking for 3 or 5 races today to even up the scoring. The beach team will be going over the (60) boats tonight to tension up tramps, so three would be good! Last nights finish was a bit late with the last start at about 5 PM. That made for a darker than desired check in. We hope to be done, shower and get back for tonights party!

10:10 AM and OFF THE BEACH! is called for race 6.

Race 7 is on the water.