Chicago Illinois. The "2008 Sunfish Junior International Championship" was held in Chicago - Lake Bluff, IL. on September 5th and7th. This competition was parallel to the North American Championships in Iowa which involved Ana Cristina Guirola and Andrea Aldana also from Guatemala.
The 1st Sunfish Junior International Championship was being hosted by the Lake Bluff Yacht Club, Lake Bluff, IL, on Lake Michigan. Twelve competitors where participating and they represent seven countries.
In the Junior International Championship the boys got a lot of experience because it is exclusively for participants younger than 18 years and all the bustle of preparation prior to competition, travel and the same competition makes them mature in life.
Stephan Breeuwer and Enrique Arathoon from Guatemala were treated very well by the organizers of the competition and the event was spectacular as was their performance. In the blogs of the event, www.sunfishforum.com, the comments about Stephan's sailing skills where very enthusiastic and he got very good reviews from his performance:
Day 1: "Stephan did an excellent job of keeping his boat moving and protecting the favored right side coming in second ...........
Day 3 (Last day)"... After Saturday, Breeuwer was a little more consistent to claim third overall for the regatta. "
The 1st day, Stephan managed a second place and because of problems in his second day, he fell under at the 4th place. The last day he managed to recover points and stay in 3rd place.
In an interview they did a few days before the trip, Stephan said, "I'm very keen to bring a medal, hopefully we go well" and now he returns to Guatemala with a 3rd place win.
Enrique Arathoon meets with the group of fellow Guatemalan sailor competitors at the 2008 Hobie Cat North American Championship, where he will pair up with Jason Hess in Iowa.
We thank Gail M. Turluck, sailing photographer, who gave permission to use his pictures for this publication.
We at the Guatemala Times thank Dirk Breeuwer for sending us the latest up to date sailing information, news sites of the sailing event and for getting great pictures. Without him we could not have published this story as an inspiration for other young Guatemalan athletes and all the parents supporting them.
We wish the rest of the Guatemalan sailor's good luck in Iowa.
Photo credit: Gail M. Turluck, http://www.sunfishforum.com/2008-sunfish-junior-international-t4628.html?t=4628
