In the U17 group, Frenchman Eliot Ponce-Baranski won among men and Israeli Tamar Stainberg among women. In the U19 competition, the best among the men was Frenchman Gaspard Carfantan, and among women, Israeli Mika Kafri. Slovenian Lina Eržen, who finished second, was also excellent.
The Open European Championship in the iQ foil class was held last week at Zlatni Rat, organized by the Sailing Club Labud from Split and the windsurfing club Zoo station Bol, with the support of the Bol Tourist Board and the municipality. Over 118 competitors from 17 countries competed in three disciplines – course, slalom, and marathon in ideal conditions, which once again put Bol on the list of destinations that should be counted on in world windsurfing.
This is the second important competition held this season in Bol on Brač – in July; the popular Zlatni Rat beach hosted the World Windsurfing Championships before hosting the young hopes of world windsurfing – among which may be the future Olympic winners. Namely, the iQ foil class was approved in November 2019 by the World Sailing Council as windsurfing equipment at the 2024 Olympic Games in France. Thus, the IQ foil replaced the RS: X, which has been the Olympic equipment of choice since Beijing 2008.
“I am delighted with the results and conditions that did not disappoint – we had wind every day, ranging from 12 to 25 knots, which is not often the case even in destinations more famous than ours. All guests are delighted with Zlatni Rat, Bol and Croatia, and the Israelis, Poles, and British are returning for preparations, which will bring Bol an additional significant number of nights in the pre-season and post-season,” says Toni Bulić, one of the two organizers of the competition.
Competitors collected points to enter the medal race throughout the five days of the competition. A total of 84 races were raced in three disciplines. The 12 final races included the competitors who collected the most points in their category through the competition – 12 of them per category. The results in all disciplines were added up for the medal race for which a special field was agreed today.
“I am very pleased with the progress of our competitors, juniors who performed at this week’s open European Junior Championships, but also seniors. They only got the equipment a couple of months ago and progressed very quickly, and these are phenomenal results. We have never had better surfers at that age, not only in Croatia but also in the Adriatic,” said Marin Siriščević from JK Labud, coach of all Croatian competitors in Olympic windsurfing, to whom experts attribute the main credit for the great success of Croatian competitors.
In the Olympic windsurfing class, the European Championships in Marseille for seniors, which starts at the end of October, is significant. Palma Čargo (21) and Luka Mratović (34) from Split will go with coach Siriščević to collect points that could lead them to the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. What is especially gratifying is that the generations gaining experience in Bol today are of great Croatian hope for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Photos: Roni Marinković / Snimke: Trio Stories
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