iQFOIL European Championships
As of 11 am yesterdy morning, all the competitors were out on the water with an average north-westerly wind of 12 knots. But very quickly things got complicated, the wind gradually decreased and became very unstable in intensity and direction.
Despite several attempts in the women’s round, no race could ultimately be completed. The two race committees resigned themselves and sent everyone back to shore while waiting.
It was 2 pm, the wind was gradually picking up to reach 15-18 knots in the north-west sector. Things seemed to be taking shape, the girls went on the water, followed by the boys.
The conditions were ideal, on the visible women’s circle of the Corniche Kennedy, a real natural bleacher, the wind was rising to 20 knots. The Marseillais spectators took it all in. The race committee sent six races in a row with a single fleet of 68 competitors on a leeward-windward course.
For men, the fleet further offshore was divided into two groups on the basis of the general classification of the day before. The gold group, made up of the first 73 competitors and the silver group for the last 68 riders. The races followed one another with two separate starts on a trapezoid course, with in the end 6 races validated for the gold group and five for the silver group.
Philippe Faure, President of the race committee commented on the women’s race circle: “We left confident with a weather forecast that predicted 15-18 knots rising in the afternoon but unfortunately it did not go as planned. So we sent everyone back to shore. Once the conditions were a little more stable we set off again on the water with ideal conditions which allowed us to launch 6 races without interruption. As soon as the last ones arrived, the starting procedure was restarted. Great conditions, good starts, we can say that it is a flawless course. We tried to do as many races as possible because tomorrow is going to be much more complicated in terms of weather. ”
See you today at 11am for the last qualifying day before the finals on Thursday.
The leaders are, again, French competitor Helene Noesmoen in the women’s team and Dutch competitor Huig Jan Tak in the men’s team.
