Medal Series partially completed as Finn Hawkins and Emma Wilson are crowned overall winners of the iQFOiL International Games
The fifth and final day of the iQFOiL International Games in Marina Rubicon was dedicated to the Medal Series, but patience was required as the wind was slow to settle in the area. The top eight sailors in both the Men’s and Women’s fleets spent an extended wait ashore while the Race Committee searched for suitable conditions to launch racing.
Led by PRO Cesar Sans, the Race Committee moved across the area throughout the morning before eventually finding workable breeze close to the iconic Playa de Papagayo. The wind remained light, averaging around 7 knots, placing a premium on clean execution and tactical discipline in the decisive knock-out races.
The Men were first onto the water for the Quarter Finals. In a closely fought race, the two French sailors Yun Pouliquen and Adrien Mestre advanced to the Semi Finals, eliminating Nacho Baltasar Summers (ESP) and Duncan Monaghan (GBR).
As soon as the Men concluded their Quarter Finals, the Women began theirs. Germany’s Theresa Marie Steinlein and Italy’s Medea Falcioni secured progression to the next round, leaving Islay Watson (GBR) and Palma Čargo (CRO) out of contention.
After another waiting period on the water, conditions briefly returned to sailable levels, allowing the Men’s Semi Finals to be completed. Once again, Pouliquen and Mestre proved strongest, earning their places in the Final where they were set to meet Finn Hawkins (GBR) and France’s Nicolas Goyard. Their advance came at the expense of Denmark’s Johan Søe, winner of the 2025 edition of this event, and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Luuc Van Opzeeland (NED).
Shortly thereafter, the wind dropped definitively and racing was cancelled for the remainder of the day. As a result, the overall standings were confirmed based on the results accumulated over the week.
Great Britain’s Finn Hawkins and Emma Wilson were crowned overall winners of the iQFOiL International Games in Lanzarote. Silver medals went to Nicolas Goyard (FRA) in the Men’s fleet and Sharon Kantor (ISR) in the Women’s, while third place on the podium was claimed by Yun Pouliquen (FRA) and Italy’s Olympic Champion Marta Maggetti.
“We’ve just finished the first iQFOiL games of the year, I won the event, in the end we didn’t do the Grand Final of the Medal Series, but I had a really good week and I think I was always consistent and at the top which I’m pretty happy with because it’s January, the start of the new season” – commented Emma Wilson. “I wasn’t trying to peak but ended up doing well and I just want to thank my coach and my training partners, I had a really good time and it’s always a great event”.
“I just won the event, I had a pretty crazy week, we did start off with some Sprint slaloms, then went into some light wind Sprint Upwinds the next day, and then we finished off the week with some windy course racing and across the week I managed to keep posting good results in all the different formats and all the different conditions” – said Finn Hawkins. “Today we came out here for the Medal Series, they managed to get the Men’s quarters and semis done, but unfortunately the wind is completely died out here and we didn’t get the final turn, but although it’s a shame I can’t lie I’m very happy for winning the event!”.
Despite the light and unstable conditions on the final day, the iQFOiL International Games in Marina Rubicon delivered a full week of high-level racing, highlighting both the depth of the fleets and the adaptability of the world’s leading iQFOiL athletes.
