The 2026 iQFOiL World Championships got underway on 7 September in Weymouth and Portland. A total of 186 athletes from 41 nations gathered at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, the venue for the London 2012 Olympic sailing competitions. The conditions allowed the race committee to start straight away with the upwind sprints. The World Championships are given added excitement by the two British title holders, Emma Wilson and Andy Brown, who must defend their world titles on home waters.
A perfect start for Steinberg
Tamar Steinberg from Israel put in a flawless performance in the women’s event. The reigning European champion won all four races held, thereby taking a clear lead at the top of the overall standings. Following the two upwind sprints in the morning, conditions allowed for two further course races, enabling the women’s field to complete their full programme for the day. Stella Bilger also enjoyed a strong start to the series and is currently second overall, whilst Maya Gysler finished the first day of competition in third place. Theresa Steinlein is in eleventh place; she won the second race in her group but then could not finish higher than 18th and 36th in the course races. Sophia Meyer is in 42nd place, and Emma Schleicher in 53rd.
In the men’s event, the race proved to be extremely close. After the four upwind sprints, the race committee was unable to hold any further course races as the conditions were no longer suitable. The fleet was divided into six groups, resulting in an exceptionally tight provisional standings. Four athletes finished the day level on points. Luuc van Opzeeland from the Netherlands, the reigning European champion, secured the lead in the overall standings following the tie-break. Right behind him are Paweł Tarnowski from Poland, Nicolas Goyard from France and Yoav Omer from Israel, all on the same number of points. The highest-placed German is Lenny Friemel in 40th place.
All the information and results can be found at 2026iqworldsweymouth.sailti.com
