The iQFOiL European Championship 2025 in Sferracavallo near Palermo came to a crowning conclusion at the weekend with a thrilling medal series. After a week of changeable conditions, the final day presented itself with perfect racing weather: 12 to 14 knots of westerly wind and a challenging wave provided the ideal setting for the decisive battles between the ten best athletes.
Dramatic women's final
In the women's quarter-finals, Norway's Maya Gysler and 15-year-old Italian Medea Falcioni qualified for the next round. Falcioni showed remarkable nerves of steel when she fell after a collision with a piece of flotsam, but quickly got back on the board and secured her place in the semi-finals. There, the two young talents faced Olympic champion Marta Maggetti from Italy, Tamar Steinberg from Israel and Croatia's Palma Cargo. Maggetti prevailed in the semi-final, while Gysler also made it through to the final.
The women's grand final turned into a tactical chess match between Daniela Peleg from Israel, Emma Wilson from Great Britain, Marta Maggetti and Maya Gysler. Peleg and Wilson went into the decisive race with one match point each. The drama increased immediately when Wilson and Maggetti were penalised with early starts and corresponding five-second penalties. Despite this handicap, Wilson fought back impressively and secured second place. However, Peleg was not impressed by this and drove a tactically clever race, which earned her the successful defence of her title. The young Norwegian Maya Gysler completed the podium in third place.
"It feels so good, it's been a great week and I'm especially happy as it's a back-to-back win," said Daniela Peleg after her triumph. "It was a tough week with lots of changing conditions, but I stayed consistent. I was nervous before the race, but when I saw that Emma had started too early, I just aimed for a clear start and stuck to simple, solid tactics, and it worked!" Theresa Steinlein narrowly missed out on the Medal Series in eleventh place. After a strong start to the regatta, she was disqualified after a near-collision in a heat and fought her way back. However, as there was no wind on Friday, the last day of the Qualifying Series, the Olympic sixth-placed sailor was unable to climb any higher. Sophia Meyer finished the European Championships in 43rd place, Alica Stuhlemmer was 53rd.
Van Opzeeland dominates the men's competition
Andy Brown from Great Britain and 19-year-old Italian Leonardo Tomasini came out on top in the men's quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, they faced Olympic champion Tom Reuveny from Israel, defending champion Pawel Tarnowski from Poland and Olympic bronze medallist Luuc van Opzeeland from the Netherlands. In a thrilling race, Tarnowski and Van Opzeeland qualified for the final, where the top two qualifiers, Nicolas Goyard from France and Finn Hawkins from Great Britain, were already waiting.
The men's final turned out to be a demonstration of power by Dutchman Luuc van Opzeeland. Firstly, he won the first race, levelling the match point score. In the decisive second race, he once again showed his class and secured the European title with a convincing victory. His aggressive but controlled driving style on the demanding course impressed spectators and competitors alike.
"I knew I had to push the whole time. I felt confident and just told myself that I had to give it my all. On the last reach, I basically closed my eyes and went for it!" said an overjoyed Luuc van Opzeeland after his victory. "It was such an exciting race. The conditions were tricky, but I had speed and gave it my all, super happy with this win." Finley Evans was the best German in 74th place, Jacob Ditzen came 80th and Tjalve Böttger was 87th.
iQFOiL European Championship 2025 - Results
Ladies
- Daniela Peleg
- Emma Wilson
- Maya Gysler
- Marta Maggetti
- Tamar Steinberg
- Palma Cargo
- Medea Falcioni
- Sara Wennekes
- Kristyna Pinosova
- Anastasiya Valkevich
Gents
- Luuc van Opzeeland
- Nicolas Goyard
- Fin Hawkins
- Pawel Tarnowski
- Andy Brown
- Tom Reuveny
- Leonardo Tomasini
- Johan Søe
- Fedrico Pilloni
- Luca Di Tomassi
All placings and results can be found at iqeuropeans2025italy.sailti.com/en/default/races/race-resultsall
