Watson in third as iQFOiL Euros gets up and running

EVENT: iQFOiL European Championship (22-28 October 2021)

VENUE: Marseille, France

HEADLINES:

• (Day 3) First full day of racing for both the men’s and women’s fleets. Men complete four slalom races, women complete six.
• One solitary women’s race on day 2. No racing at all on day 1.
• 6-7 knots NW wind gusting 10 knots which dropped and swung more westerly, up to 10 knots gusting 12 as the sun went down
• String of third places and a first puts Islay Watson third in the women’s fleet of 68 sailors.
• U21 World Champion Finn Hawkins leads men’s British contingent in seventh overall and first U21 in the 141 strong fleet.
• Two race wins helps Matt Barton to 12^th. Both Henry Bloodworth (20^th) and James Hatcher (24^th) claim maiden international race wins.
• Andy Brown in 31^st, Tokyo 2020 windsurfer Tom Squires sits 48^th and Sam Sills is 51^st.
• Saskia Sills notched two race wins and sits in 16^th with Alice Read closely behind in 19^th.
• Alysia Gibson is 30^th, Jennie Roberts sits 36^th and Jenna Gibson 47^th.
• Another sunny day expected tomorrow with a wind range of 10-14 knots with the potential for a long day of racing for the competitors.

WHAT THEY SAID:

Matt Barton:

“It was a good enough day. Two firsts and a discard. A little situation with the discard. I tried to avoid someone and ended up falling off the foil and I didn’t foil again for the rest of the race, which was a bit of a shame, but overall, a good day across the board. I didn’t pick up anything too bad going into the split fleets tomorrow, so a good day.”

Jenna Gibson:

“It was really tricky out there, there was lots of holes. It was just good to finally get some racing in. I had a third and a fourth and then I just didn’t foil so got some low places.”

James Hatcher:

“I got a two-one in the first two races which was really exciting for me as that was my first ever international race win. Had a pair of not-so-great results after that but overall happy with the day.”

Islay Watson:

“It went pretty well. I had a solid day. A lot of firsts and seconds, unfortunately one OCS, but pretty happy. It’s good just to be out on the water after a lot of waiting around.”

RESULTS

Full results can be found here.