In effect it will be a starting signal for the first event on the world circuit on course for Paris 2024 where the iQFOiL class will debut as an Olympic class. More than 150 sailors representing 35 countries of the five continents will compete in the Canary Islands over the coming days. Among them, there will be the defending world champions Sebastian Kördel (GER), Marta Maggetti (ITA) and the winners of the last edition in Lanzarote Nicolas Goyard (FRA) and Pilar Lamadrid (ESP). Racing starts at 13:00 CET and can be followed live on the YouTube channel of the iQFOil class.
Credit: @SailingEnergy
Marina Rubicon (Lanzarote, Spain), January 23, 2023
The race to Paris 2024 officially begins at the Marina Rubicón (Lanzarote, Spain) where the world sailing elite have gathered for the Lanzarote iQFOil Games 2023. The racing programme will start tomorrow Tuesday on the water with racing expected at 13:00 CET. You can watch racing live every day at the YouTube channel of the iQFOil class
More than 150 sailors from 35 countries in Lanzarote
35 countries from five continents will be represented over five days of competition on the waters of the famous Canary Island and there will be a total of 151 sailors who will go out into the water tomorrow to compete on the first racing day.
There is no shortage of top contenders, many from the world's top 10 in the class, including the current iQFOiL world champions, Sebastian Kördel (GER) and Marta Maggetti (ITA), as well as the 2021 world champion and winner of the last edition in Lanzarote, Nicolas Goyard (FRA). The three of them today took their places at the official presentation to the media of what is the first test of the international circuit, the iQFOiL Games 2023.
We will also see the current world ranking leader and 2022 winner of the Lanzarote iQFOiL Games, Pilar Lamadrid (ESP); the Olympic RS:X champion from Tokyo, the Dutchman Kiran Badloe; Thomas Goyard from France, current Olympic silver medallist and Israeli Tom Reuveny, among others.
“I'm so happy to be here finally, I was here last year and I love the place, Lanzarote is a paradise for us, it is a machine of wind. Our sailing federation decided to stay here until the mid of March, so we can do a lot of training hours in the water,” highlights the current iQFOiL world champion, the Italian Marta Maggetti (27). “It is the first competition of the year we do not have that stress of the result, but it is a point to start to see where we are now and to do better in the next months.”
“This event allows us to start training early in the season and prepare thoroughly for 2023,” comments Nicolas Goyard (FRA). For the winner of the last edition of the Lanzarote iQFOiL Games, the island offers "incredible weather conditions to sail almost every day and accumulate hours in the water with warm conditions." An opinion shared by the current world champion of the class, who considers Lanzarote an "idyllic place where you can enjoy unbeatable conditions, constant winds and we always have the best level, so I am very happy to be here and to have the IQ Games to be able to put on a good show on the water and for people to enjoy and see it,” said Sebastian Kördel.
We will also see youthful faces making the leap, as is the case of the British Charlie Dixon, youth world champion and who last season won practically all the events in the class in which he participated. Tomorrow, three fleets and a maximum of four regattas Once the registration period is closed, it has been confirmed that there will be a total of 66 women and 85 men racing. The men's category will sail tomorrow divided into two fleets: yellow and blue, so they will play a qualifying series tomorrow Tuesday and Wednesday. In the case of the women, they will compete in a single fleet and the entire championship will be final series. It is expected that all of them will complete a maximum of four races tomorrow that will be held in the Bocayna Strait, in front of Marina Rubicón.
Credit: @SailingEnergy
Lanzarote, the choice of the sailors Rafael Lasso, CEO of Marina Rubicón and organizer of the event with the collaboration of the Royal Canarian Sailing Federation and Dinghycoach; Héctor Fernández, managing director and CEO of the Lanzarote Foreign Promotion Society (SPEL); Óscar Noda, mayor of the Yaiza City Council; and Ronnie Meir, IQFOiL class president, spoke at the press conference held today. Rafael Lasso highlighted that currently in Lanzarote there are more than 500 sailors who not only come here to compete, but also to spend the winter on the island, stressed the organizer of the event, which also has the sponsorship of the Tourism area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote through the sports product European Sports Destination (managed by SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote), Promotur (Government of the Canary Islands) and the Yaiza City Council, among other institutions and sponsors. The importance of this training base can be verified with the results in the Tokyo sailing classes, where 30 medals were awarded, of which 21 were awarded to teams training in Lanzarote. A base that the sailors themselves describe as an impressive place for sailing and windsurfing that brings together the best in the world. “Our sailors have chosen this place for the third year, which they consider a perfect place to train, and it is them who decide where we organize the competitions and Lanzarote is one of those places”, said Ronnie Meir, president of the iQFOiL class. Follow the action Follow the event and all the information, photos and results on the official website: www.lanzarotesalingcenter.com and our social media channels! And follow the live action tomorrow here: https://youtu.be/IOAlDFdRdt0