Rio Va'a 2009, International Va´a Federation South American Va´a Cup was a success for public and competitors.

This 8th edition of the event that started in 2002 marked a year blessed by much good news for Rio de Janeiro and for our sport. Rio de Janeiro was chosen by the International Olympic committee as the host city for the 2016 Olympic games, and the International Va´a Federation and the International Canoe Federation signed a historic cooperation agreement that opened up the way for the inclusion of va’a (V1 and V2) in the Para-Olympic games.

The event was blessed, for the third year in a row, by traditional Easter Island dances by the 20 paddler-strong Rapa Nui team who opened up the awards ceremony that closed the two-day event which featured V1-rudderless 1000 m races, V1 5 km (women),10 km (men) races, and V6 long distance races in the open, junior and master categories.

With close to 200 participants, the event received teams from Germany (Hannoverscher Kanuclub von 1921 from Hannover), France (Manu Ura 13 from Marseille) and Rapa Nui (two open and a junior team) as well as paddlers from Hawaii and Hong Kong and the Brazilian teams from the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Federal District (Brasilia) and Santa Catarina.

All the races were highly disputed on the water but fun and friendly on the sand, both during the event and at the traditional Sunday night after-race gathering at the “Baixo Gávea” bars.
With rough seas due to an incoming storm, race Director Simone Duarte shortened the traditional V6 28 km men´s course to 22 km to guarantee the teams' safety along the course that goes along Copacabana and around the Sugar Loaf where the surfing conditions were good. The canoes carried satellite tracking devices (Spot by Globalstar) that enabled the public to follow the canoes from the beach.

The Rio Va'a international race is growing every year thanks to volunteers from Rio Va´a Club and support from many friend from other Brazilian Clubs promoting the sport. They also focused on environmental and social sustainability, using bamboo structure tents and selective garbage collection supported by Instituto e - Osklen and the Haztec as well as environmental education (City of Rio Janeiro), animation for children and first aid training.

With the formalization of Va'a as a modality supported by the Brazilian Canoe Confederation, va´a in Brazil is growing and preparing should Rio de Janeiro be chosen by the IVF to hold the 2014 IVF World Sprints.

Rio Va'a 2009, the 2nd International Va´a Federation South American Va´a Cup, was supported by the International Va'a Federation and the Brazilian Canoe Confederation (CBCa Va'a Committee). Rio Va’a Club sponsored the event with the support of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club, AMOUR (Urca Neighborhood Association), São João Fort, Globalstar and Haztec Technology and Environmental Planning.
This year's Rio de Janeiro Va'a will be held on December 11th and 12th.

Nicolas Bourlon
Assistant General Secretary of the IVF, Organizer of Rio Va’a 2009