3rd DAY OF THE MASTER OF THE OCEAN FESTIVAL WAS A DAY OF COMMUNITY FUN SPONSORED BY THE HAPPY DOLPHINS PROJECT!

CABARETE, Dominican Republic- 16th of September, 2021

The third day of the Master of the Ocean 2021 started with a crystal clear morning with bright sunshine for the athletes and spectators at the competition site. Over 100 kids joined in and talked about environment and ocean conservation thanks to Happy Dolphins DR. Happy Dolphins is a non-profit whose mission is to train the youth in lifesaving, swimming and water sports, with mindfulness for our fragile ocean. 

Thanks to Happy Dolphins´ allies in the water, Inspire and Kymera DR, dozens of children and visitors enjoyed a lifesaving drill action. Inspire runs an ATC Program (Aquatics Training Cabarete) which provides professional swimming and lifesaving instruction and swimming lane rentals all year round. Kymera DR electric boards not only provided the gear for the drills, but also will be donating a board to Happy Dolphins DR, in a generous gesture benefitting the Cabarete Community and the destination to avoid drownings. They are present during the whole Master of the Ocean 2021 Event.

Also present were the children from Mariposa DR Foundation, which creates sustainable solutions to end generational poverty by educating and empowering girls and inspiring the international community to join the global movement. Children from Dream Project came to visit us which is dedicated to youth and young adults through 17 innovative programs since its beginnings in Cabarete offering literacy, early childhood education, youth leadership, the Bachata Academy and community program. Finally, kids from Dove Youth Development also joined which supports a community of hope and love that engages and inspires Dominican and Haitian children living in poverty to discover new ways of being and living through education. 

Community Day Activities included

• Surf and SUP clinics by 4 times Master of the Ocean champion and founder of the Ocean Academy
• Ocean conservation and drown prevention talks by Marine Environmental Scientist, Andrea Vogel Draiby
• Yoga Lessons by Surfasana
• Afro Hair Contest sponsored by Afrolove and Curly Love hair products by Halka
• Wellness Massages by Natura Cabaña

Stay tuned for Happy Dolphins lifesaving training sessions. Follow their account @happydolphins DR and site www.happydolphinsdr.org

The afternoon saw a multitude of incredible community activities like wing foil lessons on the beach and yoga demonstrations by Surfasana. Surfasana is an organization that promotes a unique practice that weaves together asanas, surf moves and mindfulness. The later afternoon had an Afro Hairstyle Contest put on by Halka (a popular natural hair products company from Santo Domingo run by a family of Dominican watersports athletes). This contest was a lot of fun with tons of laughs with some participants using Sargassum Seaweed from the beach to help shape their hair into original styles.  The community activities ended with a ¨Street Intelligence¨ personal defense demonstration by the Jujitsu Academy of the Coast, a martial arts academy and community center based in Cabarete. 

Throughout the community day of the Master of the Ocean 2021, the Happy Dolphins Project announced its exciting new partnership with the Starboard Blue Carbon Project which believes in a pathway to a sustainable future through the restoration of blue carbon environments by researching, exploring and simply enjoying them in order to promote marine conservation. In particular, the Blue Carbon Project encourages local communities to take action on climate change by actively planting in blue carbon environments (tidal marshes, seagrass and mangroves) in order to restore them and expand their carbon sinking capacities. The Project also uses watersports as a platform to create a team of ocean ambassadors to pave the way to a positive climate future. The total carbon footprint of the Master of the Ocean 2021 competition will be effectively calculated by the Starboard Blue Carbon Project and will be offset by exciting developments in Cabarete through this partnership! 

Nature brought much windier conditions than the day before but the waves remained small. As a result, some heats were able to be run parallel to the community day during the afternoon. At 2.40 pm a Kite Expression Session Heat took place. Manuel Selman (Chile) took first place with a great display of technique and power. Peri Roberts (Australia) showed way more power in this heat than on previous days and she was able to use the right equipment in the conditions to secure her second place. Both qualified for the next round. At 3.00 pm a spectacular Team Windsurfing heat took place in 22 knots in perfect conditions. Marius Herrmann (Germany) came first in this heat with a series of front loops and an intent on a back loop for Team International. He was followed by Miguel Garcia (Dominican Republic) in 2nd place for Team DR Connection, Audrey Meyer (France) in 3rd place for Team Carambola and Francis Gonzalez (Dominican Republic) in 4th place for Team Happy Dolphins.   

At 3.15 pm there was another Kite Expression Session with Imma Nin Franch (Spain) showing spectacular form with versatility and flow in 1st place and landing many of her maneuvers. She was followed by Luciano Gonzalez (Dominican Republic) in 2nd place who did more freestyling and less wave riding in this heat (the judges focused more on wave riding). 3rd place was taken by Joselito de Rosario (Dominican Republic) and 4th place was taken by Alex Soto (Dominican Republic). The exciting finals of Team Windsurfing took place at 15.30 pm with Tony Garcia (Dominican Republic) for Team Cocotazo, Franklin Mieses for Team Dominican Republic, Miguel Garcia (Dominican Republic) for Team Caribe Connection and Marius Herrmann (Germany) for Team International. The heat was filled with spectacular action but was cut short because the wind started dying down. The results of this heat will be announced at the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 18. Kite Expression Session Finals and Youth Kite Finals did not take place because the wind was too light by 4 pm and the competition ended at that time.

After an intense day packed with community activities and watersports action the 3rd day of the Master of the Ocean 2021 wound down with tropical beats. Despite the changing conditions and nature ruling, the 3rd day was an all-round success both in terms of phenomenal community engagement and sportsmanship. Get ready for the 4th Master of the Ocean 2021 day full of exciting heats tomorrow and stay tuned for another day of tropical action, beats and adrenaline!

Special thanks to  photographers Wolf @wolfphotographe and @karlavoleau!

For more information, please visit masteroftheocean.org and its social networks on Instagram and Facebook @masteroftheocean, or email patricia.hiraldo@gmail.com.

Photo Credits: @wolfphotographe

Photo Credits: @karlavoleau

Photo Credits: @karlavoleau

Photo Credits: @karlavoleau

Photo credits: @wolfphotographe

Photo credits; @Wolfphotographe

Photo credits: @wolfphotographe