Windsurfing: Join the iQFOiL party at Paris 2024 Olympics
A revolution is taking place in Olympic sailing.
At Tokyo 2020, RS:X was the craft used for the windsurfer class. For the Paris 2024 sailing regatta, being held at Marseille Marina, it has been replaced by iQFOiL which includes a foil on the base of the boat.
It is not the first time that foiling, where the boat "flies" above the water atop a carbon-fibre hydrofoil, will be part of the Olympic Games. That honour fell to the mixed Nacra 17 class which was upgraded to foiling in Tokyo following its debut at Rio 2016.
As well as the men's and women's iQFOiL and the Nacra 17 class, men's and women's Formula Kite - the new kiteboarding discipline - also feature foils. That makes five foil classes out of a total of 10 being contested at Paris 2024 compared to one out of 10 in Tokyo.
Read on to find out more about the iQFOiL which promises high-speed action in Marseille.
Olympic windsurfing: From RS:X to iQFOiL
RS:X replaced the Mistral One Design Class as the Olympic windsurfing format at Beijing 2008. It featured a board and a daggerboard - a retractable central vertical keel - which balances the craft.
There was a movement in the sport towards a switch to foiling with Dutch star Dorian van Rijsselberghe, who won gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016, one of its most vocal advocates despite knowing it would end his chances of further Olympic success.
In an interview with Olympics.com in June 2019, he said, "This new generation of hydrofoiling is opening up a lot of places and a lot of conditions.
"For windsurfing to be appealing for people to watch it, it's important for us to make a move and develop ourselves into windfoiling people."
His wish was granted and, five months later, the iQFOiL was approved by World Sailing to replace RS:X having been the preferred choice of the Paris 2024 Windsurfer Evaluation Working Party.
The daggerboard is replaced with a foil which can be adjusted depending on the conditions. This foil reduces water resistance and offers far greater performance, especially in calmer conditions, with race start speeds of 25km/h (compared to RS:X's 5km/h) and top speeds in excess of 60km/h.
Whereas the RS:X would 'sit' on the water, the foil enables the iQFOiL to 'fly' making for a greater spectacle as well as faster action. A shorter and marginally wider board also makes it more compact and agile.
The foil makes the craft more difficult to control and requires a slightly different skillset than that used with the RS:X.
iQFOiL: New craft, new format
As well as a change in boat, iQFOiL at the Olympics features three different race formats.
The sprint slalom lasts around five minutes and sees the athletes race together on a downwind course making for high-speed competition.
Course racing is more tactical with an upwind-downwind challenge taking in the region of 20 minutes.
There is also a marathon which takes at least an hour with the surfers travelling from Olympic Marina to the Frioul islands and from the entrance of the Calanques to the Corniche.
At the end of 20 races across the three formats, weather permitting, the top 10 in the standings will progress to the medal series where there are quarter-finals and semi-finals before the Grand FInal.
Athletes to watch in iQFOiL at Paris 2024
With just one windsurfer per nation in the 24-athlete fields, competition for places has been fierce. For the Netherlands, 2023 world champion Luuc van Opzeeland took the men's berth ahead of Tokyo RS:X champion Kiran Badloe. Van Opzeeland also won world bronze in 2021 and silver in 2022.
Home hopes in the men's competition are high with 2021 world champion Nicolas Goyard, the brother of Tokyo RS:X silver medallist Thomas Goyard, going for gold. Germany's 2022 hero Sebastian Kördel will also be in the hunt, as will reigning world champion Nicolo Renna of Italy.
Emma Wilson, who won RS:X bronze in Tokyo, has made a successful switch to foiling and will represent Britain in women's iQFOiL after taking silver at February's World Championships in Lanzarote. Helene Noesmoen, who made it a French double at the 2021 World Championships, has a medal chance on home water with Italy's 2022 world champion Marta Maggetti - fourth in RS:X in Tokyo - also set to challenge.
Israel has an embarrassment of riches in this class with Sharon Kantor getting the nod after her victory in Lanzarote. Compatriots Shahar Tibi and Katy Spychakov had won gold and silver the year before in The Hague. Kantor also won the Paris 2024 test event in Marseille last July.
Schedule of iQFOiL at Paris 2024
Sunday 28 July
- 12:00-19:00: Men's Opening Series
- 12:00-19:00: Women’s Opening Series
Monday 29 July
- 12:00-19:00: Men's Opening Series
- 12:00-19:00: Women’s Opening Series
Tuesday 30 July
- 12:00-19:00: Men's Opening Series
- 12:00-19:00: Women’s Opening Series
Wednesday 31 July
- 12:00-19:00: Men's Opening Series
- 12:00-19:00: Women’s Opening Series
Thursday 1 August
- 12:00-19:00: Men's Opening Series
- 12:00-19:00: Women’s Opening Series
Friday 2 August
- 12:00-19:00: Men's Medal Race Series (Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Grand Final)
- 12:00-19:00: Women's Windsurfing - Medal Series (Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Grand Final)