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 12th. Both Henry Bloodworth (20th) and James Hatcher (24th) claim maiden international race wins.
- Andy Brown in 31st, Tokyo 2020 windsurfer Tom Squires sits 48th and Sam Sills is 51st.
- Saskia Sills notched two race wins and sits in 16th with Alice Read closely behind in 19th.
- Alysia Gibson is 30th, Jennie Roberts sits 36th and Jenna Gibson 47th.
- 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.