A successful week in Italy for iQFOiL

As the fall season is making its mark all across Europe, one event at Lake Garda in Italy turned heads all across the world. A fleet of red sails took over the lake for an incredible week filled with action. A record-setting junior and youth clinic followed by the 2020 Garda International Games left no doubts about the full potential of this new, exciting evolution of windsurfing.

The Future

Foiling is definitely here to stay. And as the foil racing discipline is evolving, so are the best racers in the world. This was on full display during this late October week, where a record-setting fleet of 118 men and 66 women set an incredibly high level in each of the 14 races completed in winds between 5-25 knots. 

All of the main racing disciplines are combined in the iQFOiL class; slalom, course racing and long-distance. This truly challenges the racers on all facets thus revealing the best performing rider at the end of the contest. Furthermore, this new class allows for racers of various weights and heights to compete.

Youth appeal

On the weekend before the main event, a junior and youth clinic was organised with record-breaking attendance. It is evident that this new class and the addition of junior/youth equipment has a broad appeal to up and coming sailors who are looking at a future within Olympic foil racing.

Over the two days, young riders of all ages under 18 tested were able to test out the junior and youth equipment as well as use it for practice racing. Furthermore, all participants, as well as their coaches, were able to gain some valuable knowledge into the setup and tuning of the iQFOiL equipment. 

The junior iQFOiL equipment includes a variation of the popular FoilGlide which offers a lightweight, accessible pathway to foiling. Perfect for young sailors.

The winners

14 races were completed over the five days of competition. The race crew arranged for racing during the early hours of north winds as well as afternoon south winds in conditions ranging from 5-25 knots. This truly displayed the diversity of the class. The sailors competed in slalom, course racing and long-distance disciplines. On the final day, the top 12 moved into a medal race.

This race was decided through an elimination system which had the top two of the overall results before the medal race seeded through to the finals and the next two on the list seeded through to the semi-finals. The remaining eight would race for four spots in the semi-finals. The top two sailors from the semi-finals would move onto the finals to fight for the top four spots.

The results of this elimination would also stand as the event result. In the women’s fleet, Israeli Noy Drihan took the win in front of a Helene Noesmoen from France, who had been dominating most of the week, and Maja Dziarnowska from Poland. The women’s fleet was some of the most competitive seen in recent years.

The men’s fleet was won by Sebastian Kördel from Germany. Sebastian narrowly missed the title at the iQFOiL European championships at Silvaplana, Switzerland earlier in the season and was set for a comeback at this event. Nicolas Goyard from France took second place after showing great strength throughout the whole event. The last spot on the men’s podium was taken by Huig-Jan Tak who had an incredible event and medal race.
 

MEN TOP 12
1 – Sebastian Koerdel (GER)
2 – Nicolas Goyard (FRA) 
3 – Huig-Jan Tak (NED)
4 – Alexandre Cousin (FRA)
5 – Matthew Barton (GBR)
6 – Samuel Sills (GBR)
7 – Matteo Iachino (ITA)
8 – Kiran Badloe (NED)
9 – Clement Bourgeois (FRA) 
10 – Steven van Broeckhoven (BEL)
11 – Louis Giard (FRA)
12 – Thomas Goyard (FRA)

WOMEN TOP 12
1 – Noy Drihan (ISR)
2 – Helene Noesmoen (FRA) 
3 – Maja Dziarnowska (POL)
4 – Lilian de Geus (NED)
5 – Lucie Belbeoch (FRA)
6 – Delphine Cousin (FRA) 
7 – Islay Watson (GBR)
8 – Pilar Lamadrid Trueba (ESP)
9 – Imogen Sills (GBR)
10 – Lola Sorin (FRA)
11 – Shachar Reshef (ISR)
12 – Daniela Peleg (ISR)

MEN U21
1 – Tom Arnoux (FRA)
2 – Yun Pouliquen (FRA)
3 – Mathurin Julivet (FRA)

MEN U19
1 – Finn Hawkins (GBR)
2 – Mathis Ghio (FRA)
3 – Luc Schmitz (NED)

WOMEN U21
1 – Islay Watson (GBR)
2 – Helle Oppedal (NOR)
3 – Naama Gazit (ISR)

WOMEN U19
1 – Lola Sorin (FRA)
2 – Shachar Reshef (ISR)
3 – Daniela Peleg (ISR)

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