More to come for the iQFOil class in 2025

19/04/2024

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games less than 100 days away, the iQFOil class, the Olympic support for windsurfing, is preparing for this important milestone while also preparing for the future...

The iQFOil class and the iQFOil Youth & Junior class were recently tasked with evaluating a major proposal concerning equipment adjustments for the next Olympiad. More specifically, this proposal involves moving from a 9.0 sail to an 8.0 sail for Senior men and from a 8.0 sail to a 7.3 sail for Senior women and Youth women. Given the importance of this issue, the iQFOil class executive committee has decided to convene an extraordinary general meeting on Monday 15 April to ensure that all members have the opportunity to express their views and present arguments for or against the proposed changes.

The purpose of the meeting was to deliberate on relevant issues, including concerns about the potential health implications associated with gaining weight to reach the typical iQFOil height and the challenges faced by young competitors in the transition to the senior circuit. In preparation for this Extraordinary General Meeting, a survey had been developed and widely circulated among iQFOil athletes from the U17 to Senior categories. In addition, the survey was sent to full members of the class with the intention of distributing it more widely among their respective members. In total, the questionnaire was sent to over 2,000 contacts, a total of 663 responses were received.

The aim of the survey was to address concerns about potential health consequences, particularly in relation to the weight gain required to achieve the iQFOil template. The reduction in sail size is intended to lead to a corresponding reduction in target weight, ensuring that the wind range of the competition will not be affected, as adjustments to the power-to-weight ratio will be taken into account. And with an overwhelming majority, 85% in favour of reducing the sail area for men and 92% in favour for women, the iQFOil class is clearly heading straight for a major change and new sail sizes from 2025, a change that will be validated by World Sailing. These changes will be presented at the Mid Year Meeting from 13 to 16 May and, if approved, will be implemented from January 1st next year...