Bonaire celebrated 50 years of hosting its annual Bonaire Regatta while we were on island and even though we did not participate as we had in the other regattas, we did manage to watch several races over the course of 3 days.

Most of the races were across the bay (which is right behind the mooring area) and to Klein Bonaire from Bonaire.  So, we had perfect viewing seats right off the back of our boat.  The smaller boat categories included micro-boats, optimists, and sunfish.  They also spent many hours restoring old fishing boats “boto di piskado” that raced in the original regattas.  They managed to restore four of them which were in pretty bad shape.  We watched the transformation over many months.

They also had J-boats, CSA boats, kite surfers, windsurfers, and multi-hull boats racing.  The interesting thing about this regatta is that big boats and small boats end up in each other’s way even though they had separate courses, causing a bit of a calamity around some of the marks.

They also raced these  non-motorized micro-sailboats.  The owner holds on to them at start line and sets them off with just the wind guiding them – they were really pretty mini-boats.

In addition to all of the excitement on the water, there were lots of activities ashore.  They had events spread out all over the coast line in Kralendijk.  With a large adult themed carnival by the stadium, a smaller carnival area for the kids by the cruise ship dock, 5 music stages, dozens of food booths, bingo, and booths with people selling their wares – there was something for everyone.

Despite being a small island they have a pretty impressive music line up for the evening events.

A much different experience than the other large scale regattas, but it still provided a lot of fun and entertainment!