Mistral with perfect timing!

14/07/2023

UPDATE: With a rest day on the official programme, Friday 14 July will finally be a race day for the men and women in iQFOil.

The Mistral arrived at just the right time on Thursday for this Test Event in Marseille, enabling the Marathon and 2 races in Course Racing to be validated in what will undoubtedly go down as one of the finest days the iQFOil class has experienced in its (short) existence. Emma Wilson and Nicolas Goyard had a good day and are in the lead with 3 days to go...
The Mistral was the order of the day for this Test Event on this 3rd day of competition, blowing at around 15 to 20 knots in the southern harbour. As expected, the Marathon is the order of the day, with a very long course launched shortly after 11am covering the 4 usual race zones.

In the men's race, there was a big battle between Israeli Tom Reuveny, Australian Grae Morris, Italian Nicolo Renna and Frenchman Nicolas Goyard. The gaps were tight and in the end it was Goyard who came out on top after more than an hour's racing, just a few metres ahead of Renna. In the women's race, the young Israeli Sharon Kantor pulled away as the minutes went by and won by a comfortable margin ahead of Norway's Mina Mobekk and Italy's Giorgia Speciale.

Everyone agreed that this Marathon had been one of the longest races of their careers, but also one of the most intense, with twists and turns and falls in a battle on the water that was both physical and mental.
Launched much later in the afternoon, 2 races in the Course Racing format enabled Emma Wilson, 5th in the Marathon, and Nicolas Goyard to consolidate their lead in the overall rankings, with the gaps now even greater after 9 validated races, the Marathon counting double.
Friday will be a well-deserved rest day for everyone before they get back into action on Saturday with a moderate south-easterly wind forecast for the rest of this Test Event...

Women's iQFOil ranking after 9 races
1/ Emma Wilson (GBR) 15 points
2/ Sharon Kantor (ISR) 23 points
3/ Veerle Ten Have (NZL) 28 points
4/ Sara Wennekes (NED) 33 points
5/ Giorgia Speciale (ITA) 34 points
6/ Pilar González de la Madrid Trueba (ESP) 43 points
7/ Mina Mobekk (NOR) 44 points
8/ Mariana Aguilar Chávez (MEX) 50 points
9/ Lucie Belbeoch (FRA) 58 points
10/ Xianting Huang (CHN) 60 points

Men's iQFOil ranking after 9 races
1/ Nicolas Goyard (FRA) 13 points
2/ Nicolo Renna (ITA) 19 points
3/ Grae Morris (AUS) 26 points
4/ Tom Reuveny (ISR) 37 points
5/ Nacho Baltasar Summers (ESP) 43 points
6/ Sebastian Kördel (GER) 44 points
7/ Noah Lyons (USA) 59 points
8/ Elia Colombo (SUI) 64 points
9/ Huig Jan Tak (NED) 65 points
10/ Leonidas Tsortanidis (GRE) 67 points

Source: World Sailing
Photos: World Sailing