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Once
again
a
strong
fleet
showed
up
for
the
Calema
midwinters
2009
which
celebrated
it’s
24th
edition.
Tinho
and
Susie
Dornellas
put
up a
great
event
with
great
lunch,
dinner
parties
and
even
a
new
discipline
“stand
up
paddle
races”
which
kept
everyone
entertained
in
the
windless
days.
As
for
the
wind…
first
day
(Friday)
nothing,
only
enough
to
run
the
Kona
and
Hybrid
Classes,
same
thing
on
Saturday.
On
Sunday,
we
showed
up
with
little
hope,
as
the
weather
forecast
was
even
worst
than
the
other
days,
but
little
did
we
know
that
Tinho
had
made
some
special
wind
dance
and
the
miracle
happened,
wind
picked
up
around
1:30pm.
One
of
the
top
sailors,
Fabio
Melo,
had
to
leave
before
due
to
his
flight
schedule
and
missed
the
races;
Dave
kashy
and
Alan
where
also
hitting
the
road
but
in
the
end
changed
their
mind
at
the
last
minute.
I
guess
no
one
believed
the
wind
was
really
going
to
come
up!
We
all
set
out
with
12.0s
for
the
light
but
constant
wind
that
was
blowing
around
7-11
knots.
Darren
Rogers
(race
director)
didn’t
waste
any
time
and
soon
the
first
race
got
under
way.
The
first
upwind
was
rather
short,
which
kept
everyone
close
together
to
the
first
upwind
mark.
Jesper
DEN
111
rounded
clearly
in
first,
followed
by
Paulo
dos
Reis
BRA3333,
Mathias
BRA5
,
Jean
Paul
COL1,
Gonzalo
ARG3,
Gabriel
Browne
BRA50
and
I (Wilhelm
BRA999).
On
the
downwind,
Tinho
on
his
boat,
who
was
following
the
action
and
taking
pictures,
was
so
excited
with
the
racing
going
on
that
he
was
cheering
with
his
hands
up
and
waving,
Jesper
and
some
other
sailors
thought
that
Tinho
was
waving
in a
“
race
has
been
canceled,
general
recal”
way.
With
this,
Gonzalo,
I (Wilhelm)
and
Gabriel
sneaked
the
top
positions
around
the
bottom
mark.
Gonzalo
took
the
bullet,
I
followed
in
second,
Jesper,
who
did
a
great
recovery
in
third,
Gabriel
Browne
in
fourth
and
Paulo
Dos
Reis
in
Fifth.
On
the
second
race,
Jesper
and
Gonzalo
came
to
the
top
mark
together,
I
stopped
in
port
tack
to
let
them
through
and
when
I
tacked
Paulo
dos
reis
was
right
there
with
me.
On
the
downwind
I
manage
to
sneak
through
and
rounded
in
first
and
maintain
it
until
the
finish,
Gonzalo
came
in
second
followed
by
Paulo,
Gabriel
and
Fernando
Martinez.
Jesper
came
in
seventh
after
having
a
crash
close
to
finish
with
Gabriel.
Going
to
the
last
race,
Gonzalo
and
I
each
had
a
first
and
a
second,
we
knew
it
was
going
to
be
the
final
deciding
race,
also,
since
there
was
going
to
be
no
discard,
anything
could
happen.
We
started
race
three
and
there
was
a
General
recall,
which
came
in
handy
for
Gonzalo,
since
he
had
been
knocked
down
at
the
start
together
with
a
few
other
sailors.
We
restarted
race
three
and
Jesper
had
a
good
start,
I
tacked
early
and
was
going
straight
to
the
mark,
but
the
wind
dropped
getting
close
to
the
mark,
with
this,
Jesper
rounded
clear
in
first,
followed
by
Gonzalo,
Paulao
and
myself.
Jesper
kept
the
lead
all
the
way
and
took
the
bullet,
Gonzalo
came
in
second
and
took
the
event
win,
I
was
in
third
behind
gonzalo
and
on
the
last
tack
dropped
the
sail,
with
this
Paulo
went
through
and
finished
third
and
tied
on
points
with
Jesper,
But
Jesper
had
the
best
single
result
and
took
the
third
position
for
the
event.
Loic
Legallois
FRA
56
had
very
good
speed
and
finished
the
last
race
in
fifth,
followed
by
myself
in
sixth
which
secured
me
the
second
place
for
the
event.
In
the
masters
division,
the
title
went
to
Mathias
Pinheiro
who
was
going
really
well
followed
by
Dave
Kashy
in
second
and
Antonio
Esteban
in
third.
In
the
Grand
Master,
Ron
Kern
took
the
win
followed
by
Peter
Ifju
in
second
and
Don
Wagner
in
third.
In
the
Juniors
Igor
Raposo
took
the
title
with
a
impressive
10th
overall.
In
the
women
Sarah
Hebert
came
first
followed
by
Farrah
Hall
and
Dominique
Vallee.
It
was
good
to
see
Mike
Porter,
who
is
back
in
action
after
being
away
for
more
than
a
year.
The
real
winner
was
the
wind,
who
showed
up
at
the
last
minute
and
made
us
all
happy
to
get
3
races
in.
Special
thanks
to
the
guys
in
Adventure
sports,
Kent,
Josh,
Garrett
and
Humberto,
who
manage
to
get
me
the
gear
together
to
compete
in
Calema.
Also
thanks
to
Eduardo
Owen
who
gave
me
the
ride
to
calema
and
is
always
helping
out
in
anyway
possible.
Regards,
Wilhelm
Schurmann
(BRA999)
Sunday
dawned
and
I
looked
at
the
computer
screen
showing
me a
high
pressure
directly
over
Florida,
slightly
to
our
west.
Sinking
air,
no
wind.
Was
this
going
to
be
the
Midwinters
where
formula
racers
would
be
skunked
by
the
wind,
confirming
some
loser's
comments?
My
usual
optimism
became
a
quiet
resignation
to
the
reality
that
alas,
after
24
years
we
were
getting
a
Midwinters
with
only
light
winds.
I
told
myself,
"
Now,
only
with
a
miracle
will
we
have
wind
today".
I
got
to
kelly
park
to
set
up
the
course,
the
Banana
River
totally
glassy.
The
course
was
set
for
a
possible
east
Southeast
breeze,
if
it
ever
came.
The
last
possible
race
would
be
arount
3 pm.
By
11:30
a
ripple
of
the
first
wind
showed
in
the
distance,
and
the
whole
race
committee
quickly
took
their
posts
in
anticipation
of
any
possible
wind,
so
any
opportunity
to
race
would
not
be
wasted.
The
breeze
came
up
steadily,
and
the
longboard/
hybrid
class
raced
their
last
race,
then
the
Kona
North
Americans
fleet
took
the
center
stage
for
the
last
time.
By
this
time
there
were
7- 9
knots
all
over
the
course..
The
Kona
Fleet
was
eating
their
lunch
when
the
tower
announced,
"
Formula
Racers
15
minutes
to
your
race!!!!
And
instantly
a
loud
cheer
and
roar
from
the
Kona
racers,
showing
their
support
and
approval!!
I
could
not
believe
my
eyes,
whitecaps
on
the
water
and
the
whole
formula
fleet
chomping
at
the
bit
in
the
water,
you
could
feel
the
excitment.
This
was
the
first
miracle
of
the
09
Midwinters.
Soon
after,
as
the
start
horn
and
the
Formula
racers
rocketed
out
of
the
start
line.
The
second
miracle
took
place:
Without
any
time
to
lose
to
general
recalls
we
needed
desperately
to
have
three
races
before
the
end
of
the
day.
Any
repeated
general
recalls
woul
have
put
an
end
at
our
chances
of a
three
race
series.
But
everyone
behaved
and
we
did
get
in 3
raes
in
full
planing
conditions,
even
with
a
general
recaall.!!
So
the
fight
for
the
Midwinters
title
went
with
Wilhem
Shurmann,
Jesper
Vesterstrom,
Gonzalo
Costa
Hoevel,
Paulo
dos
Reis
,
all
fighting
for
the
top.
In
the
end
Gonzalo
took
the
win,
showing
consistency
despite
great
speed
from
his
rivals.
This
Midwinters
had
a
special
flavor,
The
Kona
fleet
showing
great
competition
and
fun,
and
the
whole
atmosphere
was
relaxed
and
fun
even
when
ethe
wind
was
light.
Thanks
to
all
our
sponsors
and
our
volunteer
team
who
made
the
event
possible.
Tinho
Dornellas.
10th
March
'09
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