160 windsurfers of more than 30 nationalities will be competing tomorrow. The wind conditions, up to 30 knots from the north from Thursday, guarantee great action for this Olympic class in which the athletes reach speeds of over 40 km/h.
Among the entries are some of the best in the world, contenders for medals in Paris 2024, including British Sam Sills; the two world champions, the Dutch athlete Luuc van Opzeeland and the Israel’s Shahar Tibi as well as Spanish favourite Pilar Lamadrid.
Marina Rubicón, Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain), 10 December 2023
The seventh and final event of the year’s iQFOiL Games is under starter’s orders in Lanzarote, Spain. Following the success of the first event of the circuit held last January in Marina Rubicón, the spectacular new Olympic windsurfing class returns to the waters of the Canary Islands to end the season on a high note.
The event will also mark the start of the official competitions scheduled at the Lanzarote Sailing Center training base in this key year for the Olympic classes.
In total, 160 windsurfers of more than 30 nationalities are poised for the first starting signal tomorrow Monday at 12:00 local time on the Lanzarote regatta course. They are ready for a racing programme that includes a maximum of 16 races scheduled over four days leading up to the Medal Series, which will be run on Saturday for the top ten finishers in both the men's and women's divisions.
With three possible formats depending on the conditions - course racing, slalom or marathon - the Race Committee has already confirmed its intention to open the scoring with the first course racing races. "For tomorrow we have a good south-easterly wind with about 15 knots, in principle good for course racing, but if in the end it is not so strong we will do slalom," said Emilio Galindo, the regatta official.
Today, registration day and final training sessions
With less than 24 hours to go before the action begins, the atmosphere at the Lanzarote Sailing Center base has been buzzing since first thing in the morning. With today reserved for registration and final preparations, many of the windsurfers who will be racing tomorrow have also taken the opportunity to train on the competition waters in front of Marina Rubicón. They enjoyed unbeatable conditions, similar to those expected for the first few days of the regatta at least.
And so it looks like Lanzarote will deliver and the Race Committee is counting on being able to complete the planned programme of races. The weather forecast predicts a week of winds ranging from 12-15 knots from the southeast on the first days of the championship to almost 30 knots from the north from Thursday onwards. These conditions will undoubtedly ensure great action for the exciting new, high speed Olympic class.
Among the contenders for victory, most of the great figures of Olympic windsurfing will be present, such as the British racer Sam Sills, the two current world champions Dutch rider Luuc van Opzeeland and the Israeli Shahar Tibi; the number one in the world ranking, the Polish Pawel Tarnowski and the Israeli Sharon Kantor. Spain's Pilar Lamadrid, ranked number two in the world, will also be on the start line.
The event is organised by Marina Rubicón and has the collaboration of the Royal Canarian Sailing Federation, as well as the institutional support of Promotur Turismo de Canarias, the Tourism Department of the Cabildo de Lanzarote through the European Sports Destination sports product (managed by SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote), the Yaiza Town Hall and the private entities Dinghycoach, Naviera Armas and Cabrera Medina (Cicar).