Spain´ s Nicole Van Der Velden had a fantastic last day, snatching first place from Britain`s Islay Watson who dominated the opening races, with Italy`s Marta Maggetti taking Silver. Pilar Lamadrid made the final 10 but an OCS stopped her chance of a medal.
It is demonstrated that the women of the Spanish pre-Olympic team will set the bar very high in Paris 2024. The men`s category was dominated throughout by the Netherlands, with Huig Jan Tak leading the classification.
The iQFoil final starts strong, with a squall that left the wind very unstable, with gusts of between 3 and 12 knots, but that have been able to take advantage of the Spanish, giving advantage especially to Nicole Van Der Velden, moved from fourth to second place in the overall standings during the first race course. From then on, the Santander-based Spaniard dominated the whole day, but surprisingly the battle in the finals was not against Britain's Islay Watson, but against Italy's Marta Maggetti, who finally took second place. "Super happy with how I have sailed today, how I have managed the finals, in the semifinals I was fighting to ensure to be among the first two and enter the final, and already in the final I have fought to the death against the Italian and the English, was able to overtake them and finish first, so I am super happy with the performance... and wanting more!" said the Spanish sailor.
With North easterly offshore wind, two races could be completed, to give the 6 required to progress to the medal races. Both Nicole Van Der Velden and Pilar Lamadrid of the Spanish team made the cut for the top 10. "Unfortunately, Pilar had an off line in the quarterfinals and was left out of the next rounds, but well, Nicole played her cards very well, she stayed without risk until the final where she gave everything, she was second until the last stern where she stepped on the accelerator," said her coach, Mateo Sanz. The coach of the Spanish pre-Olympic women's iQFoil team said he was "very happy with the performance of the two, and they have an excellent level and have demonstrated it in several competitions, being both in the top 10 in the world, although Blanca Manchón and Andrea Torres are also getting closer".
It seems that this type of racing also allowed Pilar Lamadrid to stay in the top 10 from the start, but a disqualification for being over the line in the first finals. Today She entered 5th in the medal with all or nothing. . But the Andalusian is already looking to the future, "for the next one, which will be at home at the end of February", exclaimed Lamadrid.
In the men's fleet, the Dutch Huig Jan Tak was unstoppable, getting 4 wins out of the 6 races held in Marina Rubicon. Also yesterday, the Dutch sailor showed his dominance on the Lanzarote race course, with 3 victories out of the 4 slalom races held. The British Matthew Barton managed to snatch second place from the Israeli Yoav Omer, but it was his teammate Tomer Vardimon who finally took second place, followed by the Italian Nicolò Renna. On the other hand, this racing mode seems not to have favored the Canary Islander Angel Granda, who has not managed to stay in the top 10 to compete in the medal race. "It was a very interesting day, with incredible conditions during the races almost perfect for me, they gave me energy to get to the medal race, say I am very happy, and already during the final it was very fun with Nico and Tomer", commented the Dutch sailor.
Tuesday saw the awards ceremony for the iQFoil foiling boards. Next up at the Lanzarote International Regatta is not over yet, since, starting this Wednesday, we will see other Olympic sailing classes compete: ILCA 7, 49er and 49er FX
iQFoil ranking female category
- Nicole VAN DER VELDEN (ESP)
- Marta MAGGETTI (ITA)
- Islay WATSON GBR
- Palma ČARGO (CRO)
- Lucie BELBEOCH (FRA)
- Lilian DE GEUS (NED)
- Manon PIANAZZA (FRA)
- Lola SORIN (FRA)
- Maja DZIARNOWSKA (POL)
- Pilar LAMADRID TRUEBA (ESP)
iQFoil ranking male category
- Huig JAN TAK (NED)
- Tomer VARDIMON (ISR)
- Nicolò RENNA (ITA)
- Andy BROWN (GBR)
- Matthew BARTON (GBR)
- Yoav OMER (ISR)
- Maciek RUTKOWSKI (POL)
- Thomas GOYARD (FRA)
- Sil HOEKSTRA (NED) v
- Pierre LE COQ (FRA)
