iQFOiL continues to make waves as windsurfing’s Olympic foiling class

In just its second year as an official class, senior and youth participation in iQFOiL is soaring. The class started fast in 2022 and in the first two months of the year, the class has already held the iQFOiL Games, Winter Series, Andalusian Sailing Week, the US Open Series in Miami and Clearwater as well as several national events in the Southern Hemisphere. The highlight, however, has to be the Lanzarote Foil Challenge, a special Regatta which introduced a brand new extreme ULTRA format.

Event Focus:

2022 iQFOiL International Games

Pilar La Madrid and Nicolas Goyard took the gold at the finals of the IQFOiL International Games Act 1 in Lanzarote, Spain. The event was blessed with strong winds, high swell, and spectacular racing, and after a stunning knock-out final it was Spain’s Pilar La Madrid bringing home her first international victory. La Madrid was joined on the podium by French duo Marion Mortefon in second and Lucie Belbeoch in third.

In the men’s race, France’s Nicolas Goyard took the gold after a tough battle with Dutch sailors Luuc van Opzeeland and Huig-Jan Tak. Goyard was able to hold on, while the Dutch pair toiled and allowed Brazilian Mateus Isaac to grab the silver ahead of youngster Finn Hawkins (GBR) who had to settle for bronze.

For more information, visit the class website.

 The Lanzarote Foil Challenge – the first ULTRA Regatta

While the equipment choice was ‘open’, meaning that any windsurf foiling equipment was allowed, many competitors competed on the iQFOiL. The iQFOiL equipment made it onto the podium in second and third place, demonstrating once more that Olympic Windsurfing Equipment has never been as close to high-performance windsurfing as it is today.

Not all competitors had the goal of ‘winning’ in mind during the Ultra race. World Cup Pro Lena Erdil took the opportunity to raising awareness of ocean pollution. She was the only woman to complete the challenge and ensured that 507kg of ocean-bound trash never made it to the water.

Watch her documentary from the challenge here:

2022 iQFOiL & iQFOiL Y&J International Games Andalucia

The second event of the year took place over the week of 8-13 March in the waters of the Bay of Cadiz.

Brazilian Mateus Isaac took the Men’s gold ahead of Spain’s Ángel Granda in second and Ling Yeung from Hong Kong in third. Ling Yeung also took the Men’s U-21 title, finishing in top spot after edging out American Alexander Temko into the silver position and local sailor Aurelio Terry from Sevilla.

In the Women’s fleet, Italian Marta Maggetti won gold in the final race, finishing ahead of Spain’s Nicole Van der Velden who had to settle for silver. Italian Giorgia Speciale claimed the bronze at the end of an excellent event for the Italians.

Compatriot Sofía Renna finished at the head of the fleet in the Women’s U-21 competition, followed by Merce Vatan from Turkey and fellow Italian Linda Oprandi.

The Men’s U-19 class was also dominated by Italy. Manolo Modena finished first and Jacopo Gavioli second, both pushing the leader from the previous day, Emile Roullet of France, into third.

There was a surprise among the Women’s U19 girls, with the final victory of Czech sailor Nela Sadilkova who reached the final and the beat Poland’s Aleksandra Wasiewicz, who led from the previous day, and Czech Katerina Altmannova into second and third respectively.

Local sailor Antonio Medina claimed the Men’s U-17 championship and became the only Spaniard to win the international championship in Cadiz this week. He took gold ahead of the Polish duo of Igor Lewinski and Maciej Dabek.

Polish sailor María Rudowicz won the Women’s U-17 gold, with silver and bronze going to Hungarian Hanna Simon and the Spanish Enrichetta Bettini.

Alejandro Selma from Spain received the fair-play award from the judges who acknowledged his gesture towards colleague and opponent, Radim Hasman (CZE-93) after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the water. Selma accompanied Hasman until he was able to be assisted by the organisers.

Coming soon

The action continues in March and April with the North American Championships, Spanish National Championships, the Trofeo Princesa Sofía in Palma, Mallorca, Campione del Garda in Italy and French Olympic Week in Hyères.

While long-distance is a fixed part of the annual iQFOiL Class calendar, the beginning of February saw the first extreme Ultra Regatta at the Lanzarote Foil Challenge.

Competitors had to race over 200km around the island while competing in six different legs. The competitor with the least points at the end of the day would win the challenge.

The race was won by Nicolas Goyard (FRA), following up his impressive performance at the 2022 iQFOiL International Games with another excellent showing. Amado Vrieswijk (NED) finished second and Mateus Isaac (BRA) was third.