After two days of the wind arriving late, racing is finally underway in Lanzarote. In the iQFoil foiling boards of Dutch Huig Jan Tak and Brit Islay Watson won after 4 races of competition in Marina Rubicón. Spain`s Nicole Van Der Velden was ecstatic with a fourth place, local hero Pilar Lamadrid sits in eighth place.
After two days enjoying the sun and friendly training, finally the winds of Lanzarote offer perfect conditions to launch the II Lanzarote International Regatta, with winds between 10 and 16 knots, flat sea with little wave, spectacular for slalom racing. This third day started with the men's races, led by the Dutch Huig Jan Tak, who won 3 victories in the 3 slalom races, although a ninth place in the course race. Second place in the overall classification is held by Israel's Yoav Omer, followed by Brit Matthew Barton. "It was a very long day, but for me it was fun, with good speed, starts and tactics," said the Dutch sailor.
In the Spanish entries, the Canary Islander Angel Granda stood out, who remains in the top 15, but he will need to be in the top 10 to be able to compete in the medal race. “Today we have been in the water for a long time, I had good starts, but I lacked speed," said Granda. For the Canarian sailor, the change to the iQFoil class has been "quite hard", since in the RS:X you should weigh over 70 kilos, but the iQFoil requires you to weigh between 90 and 100 kilos, "the heavier you weigh, the faster you go, since you put more power to the foil", explained the original athlete from the island of Gran Canaria. In his opinion, "the Canary Islands is one of the best places to practice sailing, we are already seeing it here with so many competitors in Marina Rubicón".
In the women's iQFoil division, it is the English Islay Watson who manages to dominate the classification, followed by the French Lola Sorin and the Italian Marta Maggetti. And the weather in Lanzarote has surprised the sailors, after a morning sailing calmly in zigzag, the wind has shifted from northeast to north, so it has become a very unstable onshore wind and has caused many disqualifications. This has delayed the favorite local sailor, the Andalusian Pilar Lamadrid, who, despite a disqualification in the first race, manages to stay in eighth place.
For the men's and women's iQFoil finals this Tuesday, two more course races are planned, in addition to the medal races. "We need 6 races completed before the medal race", explained Alejandro de Juan González, secretary of the Canarian Sailing Federation, organizers of the Lanzarote International Regatta together with Marina Rubicón and Dinghycoach.
