iQ Foil Games 2026: Medal Series starts in Cádiz after intensive qualifying races

The Bay of Cádiz delivered changing conditions for the iQFOiL International Games #2 qualifying races on 12 March, with the Race Committee using a combination of course racing, upwind sprint and downwind sprint to allow all six fleets to complete the scheduled 16 races. The different race formats challenged the athletes and led to decisive shifts in the overall rankings. Now that the qualifiers have been completed, the starting fields for the Medal Series have been finalised and the winners will be determined today.

Dominance and catching up among the seniors

Noah Lyons from the USA put in a flawless performance and won all his races. The American climbed to second place overall and secured a direct ticket to the Grand Final. Mateus Isaac from Brazil retained the overall lead despite the competition and also qualified directly for the final. In the women's event, Spanish Olympic sailor Pilar Lamadrid continued her dominant week and reached the Grand Final. Nela Sadilkova from the Czech Republic accompanied her into the final. The Czech team had a more difficult day, which Dominique Stater from Germany and Lina Erzen from Slovenia capitalised on. Both moved straight into the semi-finals after the introduction of the third discard. Merve Vatan from Turkey delivered a remarkable comeback. Starting from 12th place, she steadily worked her way forwards. In the final race, a sixth place was enough for her to qualify for the Medal Series.

Consistency in the U19 fleets

Jorge Ruiz López from Spain and Peyton Dits from the Netherlands maintained their top positions in the U19 men's fleet. Both athletes secured direct entry into the Grand Final. Milo Zaal from the Netherlands made a late leap from 12th place into the Medal Series. Thea Le Borgne Zibetti from France retained the overall lead in the U19 women's race and qualified for the Grand Final. Salomé Simon, also from France, will challenge her compatriot in the final. The French dominance in this age group thus continues. The qualifying races showed the depth of the international junior field, with athletes from Hong Kong, Turkey and Spain delivering strong performances.