Wind, and plenty of it, was the hallmark of the penultimate day in Brest for the foiling Aussie sailors. In the earlier part of the afternoon it peaked at 45 knots, along with plenty of rain. Later on in the day the Gold Fleet took to the water for some racing, but not so for the Silver Fleet, who were left ashore. At 5pm their fate was sealed, when no more racing was announced. This was therefore the conclusion of these Worlds for the young Australian team.

“We now turn our attention to the solid block of work ahead of us over the coming months to prepare for the 2023 European campaign. This kicks off in Palma in March. The take out from the year is that as a squad we want to be one that is ready to compete anywhere, and at anytime”, said Arthur Brett, Australia’s iQFOiL Coach.

“The three disciplines of Course racing, Slalom and Marathon add complexity to the preparation, but alternatively they also add excitement. We are close to being right in many areas, but have some refinements to make. There will need to be a mix of local and overseas training and racing to do this.”

Waiting for the wind to settle CREDIT Clement Quibel 

Some of the younger members of the team offered their thoughts, including Caelin Winchcombe. “The regatta is pretty tough. I would say it one of the more unconventional/unorthodox ones I’ve sailed in at this level, which makes it pretty interesting and tricky. We have been in tight areas, with shifty and gusty winds, and the majority of racing being downwind slalom. All of which is unusual.

“Comparing it to the Laser/ILCA, one of the main areas is the time taken for a race. A downwind slalom race can take between three to five minutes, whereas normal Laser races are around one hour. You basically have all the same decisions to make as the Laser, just super compressed, and a lot faster paced. One small mistake, or momentary lapse can be the difference between the front and the back in the iQ.”

No racing for Silver fleet CREDIT Clement Quibel 

Jack Marquardt is part of the Australian Sailing Futures program, and seen a lot just in the one season. “It is nice to be here, and feel like I belong in the crowd; seeing a lot of people who I’ve met at other regattas throughout the year, and it’s nice to catch up. As an Aussie, I feel like we’re a pretty small, largely still unproven group, but we‘re getting there.

“In terms of my path to get to this point, for the past year or so I have had a pretty solid idea of which regattas I would like to do, and where I would find myself at any given point in time. Those ideas have more or less all come to fruition in terms of logistics. In terms of performance, I’ve been actively avoiding goal setting this past six months, and just seeing where things go.”

The very witty Marquardt offered these final comments, “The three things I take away from the worlds: 1. Motivation. 2. Experience. 3. Debt. I know now that speed does not guarantee anything, and that if you don’t want to give it your all pumping for the first 30 seconds, then you won’t do well.”

Fleet racing has now concluded, with the medal races scheduled on Saturday, October 22 local time. 

ENDS

Visit the event website for full results.

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

iQFOiL Men’s – 182 Entries
Gold Fleet:
28th – Steve Allen (AUS) – (19), 9, 9, 12, 32, 21, 13, 33, 21, 11, 7, 5, DSQ (57), (48) (173 points)

Silver Fleet:
63rd - Grae Morris (ASS) – (35), 11, 1, 32, 3, 4, 8, 6, 3, DNC (39), BFD (39), 7 (75 points)
80th - Caelin Winchcombe (ASS) – 21, 17, 17, (32), BFD (57), 17, (41), 38, 15, 13, 9, 5 (152 points)
124th - Jack Marquardt (ASF) – 29, 27, 25, DNF (56), (34), 7, 14, 20, 20, 8, 10 (160 points)

iQFOiL Women’s – 105 entries
64th - Samantha Costin (ASF) - 25, 25, 21, (27), 22, 8, 12, 7, 13, (15), 9, 5, BFD (37) (174 points)
98th - Amelia Quinlan (NSWIS) – 31, 33, 33, 40, (50), 40, 48, DNF (53), DNF (53), 25, 23, 29, 25 (327 points)

By John Curnow