Exciting final day of the iQFOiL World Championship, the Olympic windsurfing class that has brought together more than 200 athletes from 43 countries around the world in Lanzarote for nine days. Today was the last day and with a competition format in which the scores are reset to zero, nothing was written. And many have lost their bets.
Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Grand Final were the three races that were on the program for the last day. Three very fast races in which there is a lot at stake and in which tension and mistakes or unforeseen events are very costly. Between nine and 11 knots of wind from the East accompanied the competitors and spectators who came to Marina Rubicón today to experience this vibrant last day.
Sharon Kantor beats leader Emma Wilson. Lamadrid is on the verge of the Grand Final
The first to start the races were the women. In the first race, quarterfinals, seven compete for only two of them to advance to the Semifinal. Sharon Kantor (ISR) and Sara Wennekes (NED) succeeded, joining Pilar Lamadrid (ESP) and Katy Spychakov (ISR) in the fight to advance to the final and face the rival to beat in this World Championship: the British Emma Wilson.
Pilar Lamadrid had a good start and began leading the race, but a bad decision when gybing in the first downwind leg relegated her while the Israelis marked each other. They were also playing for being in Paris 2024 representing their country.
"As soon as I got to the gate I intended to keep fighting until the end but I caught something with the foil and I couldn't fly. These are things we can't control but I'm very happy with the week and with not having left the podium in the previous 20 races, so, strength and keep training. In these five months or so that we have, we have to try to reach the Olympic Games at the highest level," explains the Andalusian.
Katy Spychakov and Sharon Kantor secured their place in the Grand Final, joining Emma Wilson to compete in the last race on the Lanzarote race course.
And it couldn't have been tighter. Bronze in the last World Championship in The Hague and gold in Tokyo, Wilson came directly to the Grand Final with the credential of 15 victories in the 20 races held. She adjusted too much and started early. In this case, the race is canceled and a new attempt is made, penalizing her with five seconds.
It didn't matter much and Wilson started the Grand Final recovering those five seconds and taking the lead but soon they began to exchange the lead until Sharon Kantor no longer let go. In the lead, she opened a good gap with her pursuers and meters from the finish she began to smile. The title was hers, as was the ticket to what will be her first Olympic Games.
"It hasn't been easy!", she declared as soon as she crossed the line. "The last race has been so hard, and Emma and Katy have been so fast! It has been a nice fight. I have really enjoyed this championship, I have had ups and downs and I have overcome them, I am very grateful."
Nicolo Renna risks and wins
Pawel Tarnowski (POL) and Grae Morris (AUS) emerged victorious from the quarterfinals and secured their place in the Semifinal. The Spaniard Nacho Baltasar said goodbye after today's first race of the World Championship in a meritorious tenth place. He arrived calm and aware that the first race was dangerous "because we were all going to push and there could be some off the line." He pushed too hard and with an off the line, a great World Championship for him ended there.
"Happy because the objectives are set in the Olympic Games and these are opportunities to train and learn. It has been a tough week, sailing very well as well as all my teammates, the level is incredible."
The Italian Nicolo Renna and Pawel Tarnowski were the two who emerged victorious from the Semifinal to face each other in a fast Grand Final -resolved in seven minutes- with the title defender Luuc van Opzeeland (NED), the big favorite in Lanzarote.
After an intense start and several changes at the front, in the last upwind leg the Italian decided to bet on going to the right, unlike his rivals, a decision that proclaimed him world champion of iQFOiL in Lanzarote. "I saw that they were going to the other side, I was the last one so I thought 'come on, let's try it' and it went well."
Tarnowski takes the World silver while Luuc van Opzeeland hangs the bronze. The Dutchman, even so, leaves with a good taste in his mouth: "I had a fabulous start and I think I passed the gate in the lead but then I chose the wrong side of the course. Halfway through I realized that the left was not working and I tried to fix it by tacking earlier, but it didn't work. It has still been an incredible week in Lanzarote and I am happy with the result and proud of Nicolo."
The awards ceremony successfully closes this championship and Marina Rubicón is already looking at the next world event of the Lanzarote International Regatta 2024: the world championships of the 49er and 49erFX classes, from March 4 to 10.
