Noesmoen and Opzeeland in the lead

06/04/2022

The giant 51 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca was up to full strength for the first time on a windy Bay of Palma today as all ten classes raced with all eight race course areas in action with 1015 athletes racing on a total of 779 craft.
The iQFOiL foiling windsurfers were out on the water early to beat the crowds for their 13 nautical miles long distance race. The Men and Women fleets set off ten minutes apart just after nine in the morning on an upwind downwind loop of about three nautical miles.
France’s Hélène Noesmoen, World and European champion won the Women’s long distance iQFOiL race but after an hour of high speed upwind-downwind racing round the three miles loop in a gusty offshore breeze peaking at 25-26 knots she was no more than 20 metres ahead of GBR’s charging Saskia Sills who was catching fast on the final leg. A multiple youth world champion who made a point of completing an engineering degree Noesmoen is a member of the SailGP France team. She opened with a 1,2,1 on Monday and is quickly stamping her authority on the class, reporting,“ The long distance race was good, if a bit hard for everyone as the wind picked up a lot. I was always in the first pack and then on the second downwind I took the lead but at the finish line the British girl Saskia Sills was pushing me hard and finished close there were only 20 metres in it. But that is a good start for me for the week. It was one of the windiest races we have done since the beginning of the iQ. My best here on the RS:X was maybe a top 10 but I never made the podium. It is choppy here and so you really need to be focused on your foil.”.
Dutchie Luuc van Opzeeland takes over the pole position in the men's fleet from Sam Sills (GBR), who drops back to fourth. Van Opzeeland won the Men’s long-distance iQFOiL race in the morning and scored a 3 and a 2 on the course races in the afternoon. Second with tied points as Van Opzeeland is Andrew Brown (GBR). In third, we find another Dutchie: Amado Vrieswijk - World Champion Freestyle. Van Opzeeland: "It went well today, I could show where my speed is and was able to sail to the front of the fleet today. It's all still very close, even equal points to the number two. So hopefully I can continue on this line and extend my lead. I would say peddle to the metal and we're going for it!".