After the competition for 49er, 49erFX and 470, today Tuesday the second part of the Lanzarote International Regatta started in the Canary Islands, with the entry into play of three new Olympic classes. After two days with haze, today we have seen the sun again in Lanzarote. With a wind between 10 and 14 knots, the first regattas for Nacra 17 and iQFOiL Female and Male began.
The Nacra 17 fleet, a mixed catamaran, went to the regatta course near the Pechiguera lighthouse and encountered large waves, having to make important strategic and tactical decisions as the strength and direction of the wind changed during the course.
The New Zealanders Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson won two of the three races held and are the first leaders of Nacra 17. Second are the Argentines Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco, who won the last round of the day, and are tied on points with Laila van der Meer and Bjarne Bouwer (NED) in third place.
As for the Spaniards, Tara Pacheco from the Canary Islands and Andrés Barrio occupy the provisional ninth place after signing a partial 8-4-(9).
The Mexican Mariana Aguilar won the first of the two tests completed by the women’s iQFOil and was seventh in the next, thus occupying second place in the provisional general classification. “The feeling of crossing the first line was great”, she has commented on her return to land. “I saw the whole fleet behind me and I said to myself ‘this is mine’ and I sailed as hard and fast as I could.”
Aguilar likes to train in the warm climate of his native country but recognizes that Lanzarote is a spectacular training base. “We have been here three weeks and without a doubt this is a very good place to train. We’ve had all kinds of conditions: really strong winds with huge waves and also flat water and light winds. Also wind from all directions, so you work in all scenarios” .
Once again the Israelis demonstrate the strength of their country in Olympic flying windsurfing and already dominate the top 10, with the youthful Sharon Kantor in first place. Israel also ranks third, fourth, fifth and eighth in the provisional overall standings.
The Spanish Pilar Lamadrid, number 1 in the world ranking and winner of the past Lanzarote iQFOil Games, only competed in the first test of the day when she felt unwell. The best classified is the Mallorcan Andrea Torres, in 20th place overall.
75 athletes compete in the iQFOil men’s category. The British Sam Sills stands out again in Lanzarote and had a stellar day with partial 1-2 that put him in front. “We had a big wave but also a difficult wind”, declared Sills. “I am very happy to have done these results because it is a big fleet and it is quite difficult to get a clean start.”
The winner of the other event was reigning world champion Sebastian Koerdel, who is second overall tied on points with Italian Daniele Benedetti.
The best Spaniard is the Majorcan youth Nacho Baltasar, in 30th place.
The tests continue tomorrow Wednesday in Lanzarote starting at 12:00 peninsular time with a forecast of north wind, a more typical direction of the trade winds in the Canary Islands.
This international event organized by Marina Rubicón has the support of the Royal Canarian Sailing Federation and is possible thanks to the institutional sponsorship of Promotur Turismo de Canarias with the financing of the REACTEU Fund and Tourism of the Cabildo de Lanzarote through the sports product European Sports Destination (managed by SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote), as well as the public collaboration of the Yaiza City Council and the private entities Dinghycoach, Naviera Armas and Cabrera Medina (Cicar).
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