As mentioned before, Niki Tromp was Mr Regatta from 1971 until his sudden death in 1992. He combined the duties of head of the Bonaire tourist office, Regatta coordinator and member of the Regatta race committee. As the coordinator of the Bonaire Regatta Mr Tromp was working on this special project almost all year round. Niki Tromp was born in Aruba and came to work on Bonaire by the end of the 60s to get actively involved in the Bonaire Regatta in 1971. Henk Dreijer and Cees Siebesma were his race directors for many years. Mr Siebesma held this position until he left the Bonaire Regatta race committee in 1988 for personal reasons. Meanwhile he had prepared a successor for this important job and his name was Roy Bottse. Roy had been a leader of the Curaçao delegation for the Bonaire regatta since 1985. He was a member of AWA on Curacao, the Antillean Windsurf Association. Roy Bottse started practicing windsurfing in 1978 during his stay in the Netherlands where he acquired his instructor license issued by KNWV, the Royal Netherlands Watersports Association. With his wide experience in windsurfing he became the Windsurf coordinator for the Bonaire regatta in first instance, starting in 1985. By that time Bonaire itself had no experienced windsurfers yet. Erwin Muller and "Patun" Saragoza were some of the first Bonaireans who began to practice windsurfing then. In 1989 Roy Bottse became the successor of Cees Siebesma as the race director of the Bonaire regatta.
However, it had been a dream of Niki Tromp that one day the Bonaire regatta would be organized by Bonaireans only. This was also the wish of island commissioner Mr Juancho Melaan around 198889. Mr Melaan gave a lot of inspiration to the developments of the Bonaire Regatta and to Roy Bottse.
By that time the organization of the Bonaire regatta was in the hands of the Bonaire Regatta Foundation of which an island commissioner was the president. This foundation still exists and the head of the Bonaire tourist office was a member of this foundation for all those years. They advised that a separate organization or foundation should be established merely to find sponsors for the Bonaire Regatta. Elvis Martinus, an excellent Bonairean windsurfer, was proposed by Bottse to become his successor as race director of the Bonaire regatta, particularly because of his proven skills of leadership. Elvis Martinus gradually took over the position of race director from Roy Bottse until he went entirely solo in the 1995 Bonaire Regatta. The dedication and skills shown by Elvis Martinus as a race director and promoter for the Bonaire Regatta has been great. He receives much support from his many friends on Bonaire and abroad to make the technical part of the Bonaire Regatta a success. The sailing races of the Bonaire Regatta, the core of the event, have continued under the guidance of Elvis Martinus. However, how much money will be available for the entire event depends on the sponsorship by commercial enterprises.
After Niki Tromp's sudden death, the 1992 Bonaire Regatta had Mr Toontje Nicolaas was willing to be the regatta coordinator that year. Mr Nicolaas, a Bonairean, was not interested to continue the work of regatta coordinator. Judy Diaz, a genuine Bonairean lady, became the first real Bonairean serving the Regatta in the position of coordinator as a successor of Mr Niki Tromp. This is not an easy task at all and it requires a lot of perseverance to get everything arranged on time. Judy was very active and enthusiastic. However, her work as the regatta coordinator could have been made much easier if board members of the Regatta Foundation, who made the ultimate decisions, could have made more time available for regatta matters. A different composition of the Regatta Foundation would have speeded up decisions and actions necessary to arrive at the desired results. Judy Diaz, who did a wonderful job, needed maximum support of everybody involved in organizing the annual Bonaire International Sailing Regatta.
Elvis Martinus and Judy Diaz embodied the fulfillment of Niki Tromp's dream, namely two young Bonaireans in charge of the operational side of the Bonaire Regatta, the former as the race director and the latter as the regatta coordinator. Moreover, they were examples for the population of Bonaire, and in particular the young people on the island, what Bonaireans can accomplish when directing the most important regatta in the Caribbean in the 21st century.
This review of the Bonaire Regatta does not provide a complete picture of this regatta since its first race in September 1968. The intention is to give a general impression of certain developments in the course of time.
Remarks: Judy Diaz served as Regatta coordinator from 1993 until 1997. Byron Tromp, son of Niki Tromp, took over as the Regatta coordinator in 1998. Together with Elvis Martinus he has taken the Regatta to the excellent event it is today. |
