iQFOiL Lanzarote International Games 2023 Day 1

The British rider Sam Sills proves unbeatable: four out of four With more than 80 entrants the men’s division was divided into two fleets (yellow and blue) off Papagayo beach in the south of the island of Lanzarote. Brit Sam Sills, a double world champion as a junior and formerly a top RS:X Olympic class racer, reeled off four victories in the yellow fleet and is the first men’s provisional leader of the Lanzarote iQFOil Games 2023. Sills was delighted with his start: “It was a pretty amazing day actually! We had 15 knots, a bit choppy conditions; we did four races course racing. We had to be to the left hand side most of the time. But most of all it was just so nice to be back racing with the fleet up against all these incredible athletes, my team mates…” After training on the island of Lanzarote for seven weeks, Sills seems to have taken advantage of his preparation on the island along with the rest of the British team: “The last year we were training very hard, this is such a new class and we have so many to things to learn all the time. I am really lucky I have such a powerful team around me and it is brilliant to be here involved in this. I have been here since December and I absolutely love Lanzarote, I don’t want to go home!, ”, he smiles. The Polish racer Pawel Tarnowski, silver in the last iQFOil event in 2022 -the Terceira iQFOil Games-, is a provisional second after a 2-4-3-2 from the blue fleet. The provisional men’s podium for this first day sees the Israeli Tom Reuveny in third. Spain leads women’s fleet, Israel monopolises the Top 5. The 66 female participants raced on one big fleet on the regatta course on the Bocayna Strait, opposite Marina Rubicón. The current number 1 in the world ranking, Pilar Lamadrid, started well the competition winning three out of four races with a notable advantage over her nearest challengers. She caught the best gusts and raced on the favoured side of the course pushed by the Israeli squad which fills out the top 5 of the provisional General Classification. Lamadrid’s worst result today was sixth in the third race after falling into the water when she was fourth. “You have to keep an eye on the entire fleet, but I am very happy with today. I am here to train, improve and of course also to enjoy it. Here in Lanzarote that is always easy. It has been incredible the east wind came in like that which was not forecasted. These are perfect sailing conditions. I am very happy with the three victories today,” she enthused. Sharon Kantor (ISR) took victory in the third race and was second in the other three races to lie in second position, two points behind Lamadrid and 16 points ahead of her compatriot Katy Spychakov. #lanzaroteIQfoilGames #lanzarotesailingcenter #lanzaroteESD #CanaryIslands #marinarubicon