Ceri Williams RIP

Ceri Williams passed away quite unexpectedly on the 24th of July 2020. As Board committee member of international windsurfing association (IWA) in the function of honorary secretary. We had the honor to work together for the betterment and inclusiveness of Windsurfing.

Aruba Sailing Association extends her condolences to family, friends and the Global Windsurf Community for this huge loss.

New foils with mangrove background

Runway lights, mangroves, new foils on the Aruban waters...

2020 Optimist World Championship Cancelled

2020 Optimist World Championship Cancelled The IODA Executive Committee has come to the unfortunate conclusion that based on the current uncertainty regarding international travel, quarantine requirements and increased infections of COVOD-19 worldwide, that IODA cannot proceed with the 2020 World Championship. IODA received three bids for the 2020 Worlds following the withdrawal of Italy, but none met our stringent requirements in light of the current world situation.   As a result, the Executive Committee has made the difficult decision to cancel the Optimist World Championship for 2020. This decision was based on the view that the health and safety of our sailors is a top priority. Additionally, a World Championship must be inclusive and global in nature. In today’s environment, with quarantine restrictions and too many uncertainties this was not possible. We acknowledge that this will be a disappointment for many Optimist sailors who are in their last year of eligibility to compete in an Optimist World Championship. We encourage you to move on to other classes and compete with the same passion and dedication that you did while in the Optimist.  We would like to thank our Members from Brazil, Hong Kong and Spain for submitting bids to host the 2020 Optimist World Championship on such a short notice. We appreciate all the time and effort that has gone into preparing their excellent bids and we thank them on behalf of all our our Members and Optimist sailors globally. IODA is now focusing our efforts on delivering three Optimist Continental Championships in 2020 – the South Americans (ARG), that was postponed only a week or so before it was to take place last March, the Europeans (SLO) at new dates and a new venue, and the Asian & Oceanians (SRI). The dates of the Europeans taking place in Portorož, Slovenia have been confirmed for October 18-25th. The dates for the Asian & Oceanians and the South Americans will be confirmed soon. July 14, 2020 IODA Website International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) ‌ ‌ ‌

World Sailing IQ foil equipment finally arrived!

Yesterday after 7 months of waiting the official World Sailing IQ foil equipment finally arrived in Aruba!  This new Olympic Windsurf discipline with sails with sizes of 9m2 are amazing!

Team Aruba is ready for the road to Paris 2024....

So happy that we managed it to bring all this to Aruban from Thailand and China in these times...

Schoolproject WRCA/Vela begonnen!

Het schoolproject wrca/vela is begonnen op 4 july met ipv 5 met 10 nieuwe windsurfers!

Lessen worden gegeven door Vela met 2 internationale windsurfers van wrca..

Oktober start de 2e groep. Inschrijvingen welkom

Next year JWK at Scheveningen

Some exciting sailing championships are in preparation in Den Hague:

More information can be read on the WK 2022 site .

Guidance Covid-19 sail-related regulations

Hello Sailors,

Here some guidance and tips about the current do's and don'ts during the Covid-19 crisis here in Aruba. We hope they bring some clarifications to the situation.

These are the rules for Shelter in Place from 29th march to 19th of April:
Between 06:00hrs and 21:00hrs:

•  may train/run/walk/swim (physical training) but when done you must go straight home'
• Not allowed to hang out on beach with chair, jug etc.
• Not allowed: kite surfing, windsurfing, wave runners, sailboat, banana boat, pleasure crafts;
• Not allowed to fish from shore;
• During shelter in place you can be in your yard;
• Groups of 4 or more persons are not allowed;

Tips and Guidance from conversations we had with some authorities:

• Dit windsurf kite verbod was alleen voor de afgelopen dagen. [the windsurf prohibition was only for the first few days]
• optuigen en ga gewoon even het water op voor 2 uurtjes en niet socialiseren  [just setup and go on the water for an hour or two and DO NOT SOCIALIZE]
• hou afstand van 1.5 meter op het strand en geen groep van meer dan 3 personen vormen. [keep distance and don't group-up with more than 3 persons]

Windsurfers, zeilers en Kiters zijn blij hiermee en beloven zich aan regels te houden  [windsurfers, sailors and kiters are happy with this and promise to adhere to the rules and regulations]

If there are any issues please contact any of us here:
Alvin  +297 597 0010
Marja  +297 563 3465
Rik +297 735 2200

Stay safe and check back with us here for developments.