Just as I thought the end of the season had come, there was a change in my plans. This year, after the last worldcup on Sylt, I had the opportunity to get on the plane and head for the sunshine state of Florida. More specifically the city of Miami, where I was to take part of this years IFCA North American slalom championships. Now I must admit, that I was pretty tired of traveling before I set off for Miami, but that feeling was soon about to change.

I landed in Miami an evening, and was picked up by friends, and the next morning was rainy which forced me to just chill out inside, without getting so have any sort of look around. Eventually the rain stopped and I went out for a cruise before I picked up my friend Sean Obrien who was also attending this event. We couldn't hit the water as it was evening time, so we decided to hit the clubs and have some fun, It is Miami after all.

We then had one day to sail before the event, but the wind never really came in so I just spent the time unrolling some new sails that I had brought for this event and taking a look at them, as it was the only thing I could do. The competition was set to start out of Virginia Keys, which is in the south Miami area and a perfect place for windsurfing. I was actually surprised by how great the weather got and the temperature of the water even better.

Like many national and continental championships of this kind, you always tend to find the true windsurfers of the world. The guys who really have their motivation in the right place, the guys who will travel across the country to meet with likeminded people and the people who make it happen by organizing all of it. Like we have heard before, our sport is running at its purest form now being powered by the people who put their hearts into the sport. This event was not much different. I was met by people with that exact same description.

By the time the start of the event came, the wind had decided to stay away, at least for the first part of the day until it slowly filled in and we got called out for racing. We did many attempts to do racing, but the wind just wasn't giving it to us.

After an amazing lunch the wind filled in more, and we went out to do 3 races. It was super light wind conditions, and boy was there a battle. We were close in the top between Sean Obrien, Wilhelm Shurmann and myself. I was on my 9,5 and my big 84 Angulo board all of the time.

After the racing, Sean and myself fired up the truck to hit Miami beach, but after a big dinner, there just wasn't anymore power in us, and we had to throw in the towel and get some sleep.

Saturday morning when we finally found our way to the beach(after getting lost several times), the water was nearly glassy. Oh well, we have tried that before, so it was time for some chill-out and catching up with the guys.

The wind kind of filled in, but then not really. We went out and tried to do racing, and after pumping like madmen, we decided that it just wasn't going to happen, but at least we gave it a try.

After hanging out on the beach for the rest of the day, it was again evening time, and it was time to head back into town for a big dinner with the guys.

Sunday would proof to be the day where it all was going to go down. When getting to the beach we were met with glassy water. It didn't look good, and eventually some rainclouds came by to give us a visit as well. I was actually getting ready to pack my gear up slowly, but just as I started taking off the footstraps of my board, a slight breeze came in, and shortly after that I was back in the water, because it was now actually windy.

We didn't have any initial rounds, just different fleets, so it was very easy to get many heats trough. We went out and started out doing 5 races more or less back to back. The wind was still light, but enough for racing. Again there was a big fight for the start and the marks. We took turns winning heats, and it was actually super fun racing. A little swell was rolling in as well giving us a little bit of wave action at the marks which just made it even more fun.

After yet another great lunch, we set out to do another 3 races which brought us up to a total of 8 races for the last day. So all in all 11 races over the 3 days which is not bad.

Organizational wise it was truly a great event, and it was especially great to see so many young faces who were battling it out with each other. So if you are thinking about trying out your luck with racing in the USA. Be prepared for great atmosphere, great people and of course some great racing.

Miami is, in my mind as good as the mainland United States gets at this time of the year and for the winter time. The weather is comfortable and you will be out sailing just about everyday, and on top of that, you will have great times in a city with an amazingly high activity level. I can just say, I will be coming back here in the future.

Now its really getting winter time, and the hiatus time has come until we start up a new season in 2012.

Until then, aloha from Kiani