The Marina Rubicón in Playa Blanca is once again the venue for the season opener of the iQFOiL Games 2026. 61 men and 40 women from almost 30 nations started today after the usual opening ceremonies in classic Canary Islands conditions. The west-north-west wind blew at eight to twelve knots and steadily turned to the right over the course of the afternoon. Also typical for the spot: a 1.5 metre swell ran through the race area, a combination for fast, technically demanding conditions. The race organisers opted for a joint course for both fleets. The men opened the regatta at 2 p.m. with three consecutive slalom races before the women completed their first race. The men then completed their fourth race of the day, with the women then racing three more races in the late afternoon, so that both fleets were able to take advantage of one stringer each.
Hawkins leads a tight men's field
Finn Hawkins from Great Britain came out on top in the men's classification. The Briton combined a win with two third places, demonstrating consistency in the changing wind conditions. Federico Pilloni from Italy followed in second place and showed the strongest performance of the day with two race wins. However, the Italian was unable to call on his explosiveness throughout. Andy Brown completed the podium in third place. The 2025 world champion also won a race, but was not close enough to the front in the other rounds. The three leaders are close together, which promises an exciting competition in the coming days.
Lenny Friemel is the best German in 33rd place, followed by Max Körner in 40th place. Finley Evans (55th), Bastian Weber (57th) and Siddharta Hummler (58th) are three more starters with GER in their sails on Lanzarote. PWA racer Johan Søe from Denmark is in 13th place after the start.
Wilson and Steinberg equal on points at the top
Emma Wilson from Great Britain shares the lead in the women's rankings with Tamar Steinberg from Israel after the first day. Both athletes each won two of the four slalom races and are level on points at the top. Reigning world champion Wilson utilised her experience in the increasingly unstable conditions in the late afternoon. Steinberg held her own and proved to be in top form. Sharon Kantor, also from Israel, took third place with a race win. The women completed their last three races after the end of the men's programme, when the wind was already much more unstable and frequently shifting.
Theresa Steinlein was in the top ten twice, but had to take a disqualification after a start error as a scratch and thus leave a 13th place from the opening run in the classification. Sophia Meyer is in 19th place, but managed to scrape into the top ten with two eleventh places.
The iQFOiL Games on Lanzarote are still running until Wednesday, all results can be found at 2026iqgameslanzarote.sailti.com
