Significant shifts, and changes up and down range in the winds off Brest in France were the hallmark of the second day’s racing at the 2022 iQFOiL World Championships. In spite of the challenges this brings, several of Australia’s sailors managed to improve their standings in the 162 and 102 board fleets for our Men and Women, respectively.
“The wind was between 110 and 135 degrees at between 9 and 16 knots,” said Arthur Brett, Australia’s iQFOiL Coach. “This breeze direction is offshore, and comes from over elevated land. The course is set in a narrow stretch of water and good performances require a higher level of awareness than at most other venues.
“The team is continuing to build their race craft and days like today are invaluable in the big picture. We are extremely fortunate to have this opportunity amongst high quality competitors.”
Grae Morris delivered the best performance of the day, and climbed eight places to be in 60th place overall, good enough for fourth place in the Silver Fleet. The team has two more days of racing to further develop their skills, and mould consistency into their race model.
The Australian Sailing Team’s Technical Director, Michael Blackburn, also believes in Morris, and shares the disappointment of the opening day. “I know he’s got skills better than that but is struggling to be consistent. I think the consistency will come with more race experience.”
Jack Marquardt also moved up, climbing nine places to now be in 126th place overall. A Black Flag in the first race of the day put a dampener on Caelin Winchcombe’s overall aspirations, but the net effect was not so bad after a strong performance in the race immediately after.
Samantha Costin elevated her standings by seven places, with a seventh and eighth place in two of the day’s four races highlighting strong efforts.
Two DNFs in the last two races for Amelia Quinlan would normally be very hard to take, but the NSWIS athlete took it all in her stride. “Yes, unfortunately the wind dropped for the last two course races and I didn’t have much chance to change my settings to adjust between races, which was frustrating. I fell off the foil for a little in both races, and just timed out by a minute or so. I am getting the hang of the starts now and enjoying some more wind than yesterday.”
Quinlan has been windsurfing since 2017, and foiling since 2020, having started in Optimists and Flying 11s, before going to Lasers, and also doing two years in 29ers. In 2017 she competed in the Australian Laser Championship, and then did her first windsurfing regatta just a week later on the Bic Techno. “I wanted to try all the classes for a variety of skills, and to make sure I make the right decision with the senior class I sail.”
In terms of exposure to a fleet at World Championship, and highlighting the learning curve, Quinlan commented, “In Australia we rarely do the slalom courses that they have overseas, because they require a whole other course specific to the windsurfers to be run, and at regattas with mainly sailing classes it’s too hard to organise. If we do slalom at all, it’s figure eight slalom, which is good but not the same. This is one of the massive differences, and the qualifying has been three slalom races, versus one or two course races (one for the men), so this is important.
“The other difference is the starts, which is my main leaning point here. They are just so much bigger, and especially for course racing. It’s so hard to be caught behind the fleet, not only because of dirty wind, but the foils in the water create terrible turbulence.”
Quinlan and the rest of the team will be ready to race again tomorrow ahead of the final races on Saturday, October 22.
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 Mens – 182 Entries
60th – Grae Morris (ASS) – (35), 11, 1, 32, 3, 4, (8), 6 (57 points)
97th – Caelin Winchcombe (ASS) – 21, 17, 17, (32), BFD (57), 17, 41, 38 (151 points)
126th – Jack Marquardt (ASF) – 29, 27, 25, DNF (56), (33), 7, 14, 20 (122 points)
iQFOiL Womens – 105 entries
63rd – Samantha Costin (ASF) – 25, 25, 21, (27), 22, 8, 12, 7, (13) (120 points)
102nd – Amelia Quinlan (NSWIS) – 31, 33, 33, 40, (50), 40, 48, DNF (53), DNF 53 (278 points)
By John Curnow
