The sun was out in Brest today, which will change as the weekend approaches, with a high chance of rain, and stronger Southerlies all part of the package. It also served to highlight the plight of two of Australia’s sailors, Grae Morris and Samantha Costin, who earned the dreaded Black Flag for being over at the start at the 2022 iQFOiL World Championships.

iQFOiL Worlds Day 4 CREDIT Eric Bellande

“The wind today was again off the land from around 140 degrees at 9-15 knots,” said Arthur Brett, Australia’s iQFOiL Coach. “Race management ran four slalom races over the afternoon in the variable conditions. Our Aussie team had difficulties getting the high-speed starting sorted. Their judgement is not as accurate as it needs to be and were then often pinned in awkward positions to take advantage of the gusts downwind. 

“Although this isn’t new information, the skill hasn’t yet been mastered in the more condensed European fleets. More finely tuned starting on precision in condensed packs is one of our priorities.”

Morris remained positive on his return to shore, “I had a tricky day being black-flagged for one of the starts and falling off the foil in another race. I then had some average other races, but the slalom was fun. It was pretty gusty, making it a tricky technical day, as well.”

A third and seventh place were some of his other results for the day, as Morris uses this event to build on the required consistency of performance as Australian Sailing’s technical Director, Michel Blackburn, indicated earlier in the week.

Sammie Costin has also shown great mettle, and despite suffering the ultimate fate in the last race of the day, had also delivered a ninth and a fifth place in earlier races. Her regatta card may look like that which Arthur Brett has described above, but the strong efforts are there the whole way along.

Of her regatta so far, and the journey that got here, Costin said, “Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my racing has been going this regatta. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to execute the performance I had hoped for during the shortened qualifying series, which was a bit disheartening, as the goal for the regatta was to qualify for Gold Fleet.

“However, we’ve had some fantastic racing in some really challenging conditions over the last three days, where I’ve been able to perform consistently. I’ve been able to see some solid improvements in my racing from the European Championships in May, which is a step in the right direction.”
Costin pointed out some of the unique challenges the iQFOiL class presents for its competitors.

“I think one of the hardest aspects of this class is to master is the multiple formats, and the different physical and mental requirements of each. Being confident in your ability to perform across all three racing disciplines (course, slalom, and marathon), and also being able to effectively reset and switch between them on water is something that I’ve found challenging. For many sailors, this regatta has highlighted this aspect as a very important part in performing at the top of this class.”

iQFOiL Worlds Day Four CREDIT Eric Bellande

Like many others in the class, Costin has come a long way in a short amount of time.

“I started foiling at the beginning of 2020 when my home club, the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, hosted one of the first Australian Windfoil Nationals. Prior to being introduced to foiling, I started windsurfing in 2018 and competed on the RS:X domestically and internationally, before taking a year to explore and sail other classes”, said Costin in closing.

The spirited Amelia Quinlan has elevated herself from last place in the 102 board Women’s fleet, and said afterwards, “Yes. I felt like I have improved a lot since we last raced in the slalom, and the results followed. Getting the hang of the new racing formats was the main goal of coming here, so I’m glad to see an improvement.”

Racing concludes tomorrow, where Steve Allen will look to round out a fine week as he chases a spot in the top 20. 

Visit the event website for full results.

Australian Sailing Squad (ASS), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and other Australian (AUS) at the 2022 iQFOiL World Championships:

iQFOiL Men’s – 182 Entries

Gold Fleet:

22^nd – Steve Allen (AUS) – (19), 9, 9, 12, (32), 21, 13, (33), 21, 11, 7, 5 (108 points)

Silver Fleet:

63^rd - Grae Morris (ASS) – (35), 11, 1, 32, 3, 4, 8, 6, 3, (35), BFD (39). 7 (76 points)

81^st - Caelin Winchcombe (ASS) – 21, 17, 17, (32), BFD (57), 17, (41), 38, 15, 13, 9, 5 (152 points)

124^th - Jack Marquardt (ASF) – 29, 27, 25, DNF (56), (34), 7, 14, 20, 21, 8, 10 (161 points)

iQFOiL Women’s – 105 entries

64^th - Samantha Costin (ASF) - 25, 25, 21, (27), 22, 8, 12, 7, 13, (15), 9, 5, BFD (37) (147 points)

98^th - Amelia Quinlan (NSWIS) – 31, 33, 33, 40, (50), 40, 48, DNF (53), DNF 53, 25, 23, 29, 25 (327 points)

By John Curnow