Lanzarote shines on the first day of the 'iQFOiL Games'

With the participation of 72 sailors that make up the women's fleet and 88 windsurfers in the men's division

December 12 2023 (12:40 WET)
First day of the 'Lanzarote iQFOiL Games'
First day of the 'Lanzarote iQFOiL Games'

Great first day of the 'Lanzarote iQFOiL Games' has arrived on the island. The event that closes the 2023 season, of which it will be a new Olympic class in 'Paris 2024', opened this Monday the scoreboards with a day of sun and wind of about 10 knots from the southeast, conditions that led the Regatta Committee to finally opt to complete the day's events with a slalom format, for both the women's and men's fleets. Sharon Kantor and Nicolo Renna are the first two leaders of the event organized by Marina Rubicón, and the Spanish Pilar Lamadrid premieres in the third drawer of the provisional podium.

The Spanish Pilar Lamadrid premieres on the podium

The first to inaugurate the championship were the 72 sailors that make up the women's fleet. Divided into blue and yellow groups for this first day of the qualifying series and with the first starting gun at 12:00 local island time, the fleet completed a total of four races that defined the first provisional podium of the event that is taking place on the island.

The Spanish Pilar Lamadrid went from less to more on the opening day. After scoring a 27th place in the first race and a fifth in the second, Lamadrid finished with two partial victories that lifted her to the third drawer of the provisional podium with a total of seven points, and discarding the first race thanks to the entry into play of the discard.

Ahead, Sharon Kantor was unbeatable on the race course and signed four wins out of four possible, positioning herself in the first drawer with three points in her locker. Behind, the second place was occupied by the British Emma Wilson with five points and two first places, a third and a disqualification for starting early that became her discard.

Once on land, the Andalusian windsurfer explained how the day had unfolded: "The day has gone quite well. In the first race, with the wind picking up and the south wave we had, I fell just after mounting the first buoy in second position, but the truth is that I was able to solve the other three races a little better and also find myself better with the trimming of the equipment."

"In general, happy with this start of the regatta and hopefully tomorrow, when we sail after the boys, we can do another four races," added Lamadrid.

Triple tie on the men's podium

After the dispute of the four races of the women's fleet came the turn of the 88 windsurfers in contention in the men's division. The wind, which ended up decreasing towards the end of the afternoon, allowed two races to be completed for each of the two groups and the general standings closed with a triple tie at the top.

Tied at four points and with a partial victory and, consequently, a third place each, the Italian Nicolo Renna, the French Nicolas Goyard -third in the first event of the year held in Lanzarote last January- and the Dutchman Kiran Badloe occupy for the moment the first, second and third position respectively.

"The truth is that I have seen myself very well. This event serves as preparation for the world championship that we will also have here at the end of January, so we can see how the training of this winter is going and where we are at the beginning of the season. We are strong and ready for this regatta and for the World Championship," said Renna after finishing the day.

Among the Spanish fleet, the Balearic Bernat Tomás is the best placed in the twelfth position of the general standings with two ninth places scored this Monday on the Lanzarote race course. The Lanzarote 'iQFOiL Games' continue this Tuesday with the dispute of the second day of the qualifying series. The event is organized by Marina Rubicón and has the collaboration of the 'Real Federación Canaria de Vela', as well as the institutional support of Promotur Turismo de Canarias, the Tourism area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote through the sports product European Sports Destination (managed by SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote), the City Council of Yaiza and the private entities Dinghycoach, Naviera Armas and Cabrera Medina (Cicar).

Provisional general podium of the 'iQFOiL Women's' of the first day

1. Sharon Kantor: 3 points

2. Emma Wilson: 5 points

3. Pilar Lamadrid: 7 points

Provisional general podium of the 'iQFOiL Men's' of the first day

1. Nicolo Renna: 4 points

2. Nicolas Goyard: 4 points

3. Kiran Badloe: 4 points

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