I was wondering if anyone has heard any news about the freestyle event coming up in december? I went to the website and there is no new information since last year. Is it going to happen again this year? Is it going to be the freestyle finals just a local event?

I heard and read a lot about the event last year and it looked like a fantastic time; one I'd like to not miss again. Anyone with any information please let me know.

Dear John,

I am most happy to say that my fellow organizers and I held a press conference a week ago at Rendezvous Restaurant and announced the new dates for King of the Caribbean.

Dec.2-9 our event will occur on windy Lac Bay. This event will feature the world acclaimed members of the Bonaire Sailing Team. Windsurfers from all around the world will descend on Bonaire to duke it out for the cash purse and coveted title of King and Queen of the Caribbean.

We also recognize and support the novice and amateur sailor so Tinho and Susie Dornellas from Calema will once again coordinate that aspect of KOTCaribbean.

For those interested in being a spectator, most sponsoring hotels from the Bonaire Hospitality group, BONHATA and Bonaire Small Inns are offering attractive specials to make this affordable. You can also contact me for assistance and booking information. Sailors who wish to enjoy the sport will not have any interference as our venue is by the marina.

Come one come all. We are also seeking cash sponsors to help defray the costs of this World Event. The budget is large and we cannot rely on Bonaire businesses alone to carry this event for 2003. We seek private, corporate and individual sponsors. Anything is most welcome. Let's all support this important event. Most of all, I and my fellow committee members feel windsurfing can become as big as diving in the years to come. It is environmentally friendly and can bring revenue to our little island without exploiting.

If you want to learn more email me or if you wish to have a sponsor packet I can send this along.

See you in Dec. If you are on one of the flights with incoming sailors (KLM and Air JA) welcome them and ID yourself as at BT'er !

Thanks again John. And FYI you can go to last weeks Bonaire Reporter archive for the official press release.

Ann Phelan
www.bonaireworldfreestyle.com
ann@bonairewindsurfing.com

I'm so siked to hear that the event is happening again. Good luck on the fund raising. Did that for years for the ski industry. Yowsa, not easy in this economy! Any news on what the purse will be? Do you think you guys will be able to raise enough for the event to be considered the finals? I hope so. Any word on who is coming for the pros?

I have been visiting Bonaire each year for about 4 years now for diving and oddly enough never really considered windsurfing there until I saw that the freestyle was doing well on Bonaire. I mostly sail in upstate new york, new jersey, and lake champlain with annual pilgrimages to the outer banks and the gorge. Sounds like maybe I could incorporate a little sailing on my diving excursion this december.

I know the trickiest part of raising the sponsor dollars is trying to convince the local businesses that people will come to the island for the event. Marketing to the competitors and locals is a dead end street for businesses trying to attract new travel clients and expand their bottom line. You've got to make sure you have cold hard numbers on spectators who actually booked a trip to bonaire for the event now that one year has passed. That is the key, Return On Investment (ROI). Attracting off island sponsors will be VERY difficult because there are no metrics to gauge the success of the marketing campaign. Good luck and let me know if you need any ideas. Yes, in my previous life I was in PR/Marketing.

Dear John,

I appreciate your thoughtful email. Last year our purse was 65k. I suspect it will be the same. Our event will most likely be the World Finals since there is no other PWA event aside from ours. It is the plan, stan.

The entire island and infrastructure banded together and made the event a huge success. Check out links that are all over the web and you will see how amazing the event truly was.

Read below:

But the most important success was the delivery of over TWO BILLION potential media exposures. A conservative estimate of 10% TV viewership means over 200 million people saw at least one mention of this extreme sports event. Below is a summary of the worldwide media exposure for the 2002 event. There is a more complete media placement report (to date) at the end.

Media Coverage Before the Event
· Starting in September the event began appearing on websites around the world. By December the King of the Caribbean was included in over 300 sports, travel and windsurfing websites with an estimated nine (9) million hits.
· Magazine ads and news stories appeared in international windsurfing magazines in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Holland, Canada and the USA for several months before the event.
· A video news release was picked up in a number of Caribbean countries including Venezuela.
· Extensive news coverage also appeared in the Antilles and Aruba and hundreds of posters were seen in windsurfing venues around the Caribbean.

Millions Followed the Action During the Event
· Three TV crews were on hand to capture the action.
· Writers and photographers representing 25 international windsurfing magazines also covered the event.
· Two Dutch newspapers, reporters from Venezuela and a number of local and Caribbean media outlets developed daily stories.
· There was also daily Internet Radio and website coverage of the event.
· The PWA registered over 1.3 million hits during the December event with Bonaire’s King of the Caribbean as the headline story.
· King of the Caribbean’s own website had another 256,959 hits. Total Internet hits are conservatively estimated at 9 million over a five-month period. Many of the pages are still available on the Internet.

After the Event – Here’s the best news!
· Immediately after the event a TV news tape was released in Europe via Reuters and SNTV. Preliminary tracking reports show that two separate releases were broadcast to over 900 million sports fans in 200 countries.
· The Associated Press distributed a news story and photos to its world-wide subscriber list which reaches hundreds of millions via newspaper, magazine and TV.
· Four 5-minute TV shows were produced by SBS6 sports channel in Holland and shown several times each over an 8-week period for a total exposure of one million more exposures.
· Another 10-minute TV program was broadcast in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and is scheduled for more countries on the Caribbean Travel Network. This is expected to deliver about three million total viewers.
· Then, starting January 31st a 25-minute TV show on the Bonaire event as the grand finale to the PWA World Tour 2002 began appearing on sport channels around the world. It has been shown or scheduled to broadcast over 275 times between January and May, on sport channels that will reach 600 million homes. With repeat showings some of these 600 million will be exposed to the program three or four times.
· Multi-page print magazine articles also started appearing in January and will run through April in 25 major European and North American markets. Already over 40 pages were devoted to the event in just two French windsurfing magazines.
· Major travel articles have or will also appear in windsurfing publications reaching millions of sports enthusiasts in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Holland, Canada, USA, Japan, Poland, Greece, Norway, Brazil, Denmark and Austria.
(A. Gross/J. Townsend(

Thankfully we have on our committee former PR execs so we lucked out eh??

I love the Outer Banks..have sailed Maui, Aruba and beyond but I have found my windsurf paradise.



Annie
www.bonaireworldfreestyle.com

Excellent exposure!! I see the PWA has good distribution channels. The real test will be, does this translate into people coming to Bonaire. Gosh I hope so. You guys are doing an excellent job. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing everyone in December.

Any news on which pros are coming from the PWA?

Pros so far: since it's the finals all the top guys and girls have to come!

Check out the PWA web site: www.pwaworldtour.com



Ann
www.bonaireworldfreestyle.com

Great news! When are you guys going to update your website with more event info? Its all from 2002 so far and the PWA site has no info on the event either other than a calendar listing. We are starving for info...