iQFOiL EM: Strong start for Theresa Steinlein, Goyard leads the men's competition

Yesterday was the first day of competition at the iQFOiL European Championship 2025 in Sicily. 140 athletes from 35 nations are taking part, but the start was a little tough due to changeable wind conditions. Only one race could be completed in both the men's and women's fleets before the wind shifted and dropped.

In the men's race, which was split into two groups due to the high number of participants, Frenchman Nicolas Goyard secured victory in the first race of his group and thus took the lead in the overall standings after day one. He was followed by the Italian U23 athlete Manolo Modena and Rytis Jasiunas from Lithuania. Olympic champion Tom Reuveny triumphed in the second group of the men's fleet, making a strong start despite the unpredictable wind conditions. He was followed in second and third place by the Italian Nicolò Renna, bronze medallist at the 2025 World Championships in Aarhus, and the reigning European champion Paweł Tarnowski from Poland.

Nicolò Renna was satisfied with his start: "Today we only did one race for the blue fleet and also for the yellow fleet. It was a bit changeable, but it was fun and I'm happy to have finished second. Hopefully there will be more action tomorrow."

The best German was Finley Evans in 59th place, Jacob Ditzen is in 69th place and Tjalve Böttger is in 82nd place after day 1.

Steinlein in the lead for a long time

In the women's fleet, Daniela Peleg secured victory in the only race of the day. Theresa Steinlein took second place, while Sara Wennekes from the Netherlands finished third. Steinlein, who led until the last buoy, was optimistic despite narrowly missing out on victory: "We only did one race, but we had very nice waves and somewhat gusty winds, which was still a lot of fun. I was in the lead until the last gybe, then unfortunately I made a mistake because I didn't see a gust. It's a bit annoying not to win, but I know that I can be at the front and I'm really looking forward to the next few days." Sophia Meyer is in 41st place after the first day, Alica Stuhlemmer is in 50th place.

The iQFOiL European Championship in Sferracavallo runs until Saturday, the forecast promises better conditions for the coming days. All races and results can be found at iqfoilclassofficial.org