The Riviera Maya Government Tourist Office yesterday announced that it will host the upcoming 2004 Hobie World Championship from May 4th through 14th, 2004.  The event takes place once every two years and will be held in the Riviera Maya for the first time ever this year.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Hobie Worlds Championship to the Riviera Maya this year,” commented Martin Ruiz, General Director of the Fideicomiso of the Riviera Maya.  “With our long stretches of beautiful sandy beaches, turquoise waters, rich historic attractions and wealth of hotels and inns, we have an ideal coastal location for the event that competitors and spectators alike will enjoy.”

This exciting event, one of the world’s foremost sailing competitions, will feature five categories of competition over a total of ten days.  Sailors will vie for first, second and third place trophies in the Women’s, Youth (participants must be under the age of 21), Masters (over age 45) and Grand Masters (over age 55) categories while the winner of the Open category will be declared 2004 Hobie Cat 16 World Champion.  Over 700 competitors, family and spectators have already registered to attend, an unprecedented number for this event, including reigning champions Gavin Colby and Simone Mattfield as well as ambitious contenders such as Thorin Zeilmaker.

In addition, a record-breaking number of new Hobie craft will be sailed at this event, with 60 brand new boats rotating between 200 entries to start the line up.  All boats for the event are supplied by the Hobie Cat Company, no private or other types of boats are permitted.

The competition will begin on Wednesday, May 5th with Women’s, Youth, Masters and Grand Masters races continuing through Thursday, May 6th and Friday, May 7th.  Qualifiers for the Open category take place Saturday, May 8th and Sunday, May 9th followed by Open Semi-Finals from Monday, May 10th to Wednesday, May 12th.  The Finals for the Open category are Thursday, May 13th and Friday, May 14th.  Races start at 10:00 AM each day.
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