2021 Foiling Week Malcesine preview - forums, trials and especially racing
by Foiling Week 25 Jun 2021 20:46 NZST
1-4 July 2021
2021 Foiling Week Malcesine © Foiling Week
We're exactly one week out from the start of the 2021 Foiling Week Malcesine; after a tough year without much sailing, we're very excited to finally be back out on the water flying.
At its 12th edition, from July 1st to July 4th the Foiling Week is here to provide you with all the foil action you have been longing for in the beautiful Lake Garda, with forums, trials and especially racing, with the participation of some of the biggest names in sailing.
First and foremost, you might have noticed that our logo this year is decidedly more colourful; we fully support the LGBTQ+ community and we stand by them in their battle against inequality and intolerance. For this reason, we have decided to colour our logo so that our support can not only be felt, but also seen.
Racing
The racing, supported by our amazing partner Sailmon Instruments, will see four classes involved: Moth, Waszp, ETF 26 and Wingfoil with the Euro Cup. All racing will start in the afternoon of Thursday, July 1st.
The Moth regattas, fully supported by our partnership with Liberty Bitcoin Fund, will see some of the best sailors in the world participate, with the likes of Tom Slingsby, Ian Jensen, Paul "Goody" Goodison, Checco Bruni and many more in the mix.
The Waszp racing will see many young guns out on the water, both male and female, testing their skills against each other in a location with conditions like no other. Every day, in collaboration with the Magenta Project, a briefing and debriefing for all the women racing will be hosted by Liv Mackay of New Zealand, Margherita Porro of Italy and Franziska Mage of Germany, all young and talented sailors in their own right, with the aim of providing as much knowledge as possible to all participants.
Back again after last year's success we have the wing foil racing, spectacular as always, and for the second time we will have the ETF 26 catamaran, conceived by the four times winner of the Jacques Vabre Race, Jean-Pierre Dick, and designed by Guillaume Verdier, the naval architect of the winning boat Emirates Team New Zealand for the 34th edition of America's Cup.
For the first time, the Foiling SuMoth Challenge will show the fruits with the Stage 2 part of the competition with an on-water speed test where the student teams will prove their Sustainable Moth concepts against the GPS.
All regatta prizes will be made from recycled carbon fibre composites supplied by our partner Microtex composites; a big thanks also goes out to Gac Pindar, our logistics partner, and Helly Hansen, our official clothing partner.
Forums
As every year our forums, brought by Gurit, in co-partnership with Persico Marine, are here to bring you the latest news on the foiling world and the sailing world in general, with exceptional guest from all over the world.
We kick things off on July 1st with "Flying over barriers: foiling for gender equity in pro watersports?" with guests that include Jimmy Spithill, Daniela Moros and Liv Mackay, shortly followed by "IMOCA future: too far, too fast, what is too much risk for the human pilot?" With Sam Manuard and Antoine Mermod as key speakers. The SuMoth Challenge, in partnership with 11th Hour Racing (11thhourracing.org), will live its final stages here at Foiling Week with a dedicated forum on sustainability and innovation; all the participating universities will be present: Politecnico of Torino Sailing Team, Politecnico of Milano Sailing Team, University of Pavia Sailing and Rafale ETS from Montreal to name a few, as well as Sergio Caramel, project manager for the EcoFoiler at NothernLights Composites and former Foiling SuMoth Challenge student.
The second day of talks sees a star-studded lineup in the morning, with the commodores of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Royal Yacht Squadron participating in "Managing the biggest foiling world event: the cup rulers", where they will give us an exclusive preview to the latest developments of America's Cup.
In the afternoon, thanks to the support of our sustainability partner Torqeedo (www.torqeedo.com/en), "E-Foiling match made in Heaven and the future of ePropulsion" will see the participation of Nicholas Leason from Lift Foils, Gustav Hasselskorg from Candela Yachts (candela.com), Luc Blecha from Zeest by Almatech and Massimo de Luca, winner of the Foiling Week Multi-Purpose eFoiler design competition sponsored by Torqeedo and Gurit. The discussion will focus on the advancements of ePropulsion in their various electric foiling watercraft. Shortly thereafter, Paul Larsen and Don Montague, legends of the sports, will speak about the World Speed Sailing Record, being pioneers in foiling and the record itself. This follows through to the last forum morning with Mayeul Van den Broek and Xavier Leperq from SP80 and Alex Caizergues from Syroco. The leaders of both teams will discuss their concepts and why they believe they will achieve the 80 knots barrier to get the World Speed Sailing Record.
The final day of the forums begins with "Game Changer: round one of AC Foiler Design Innovations", with guests that include Checco Bruni, superstar naval architect Guillaume Verdier, Elise Beavis from Emirates Team New Zealand and Laura Marimon.
Initiatives
But that's not all the Foiling Week has to offer; other than racing and the forums, there are many other initiatives that will take place. First and foremost, for all those participating in the Foiling Week Regattas with a Moth, there will be the opportunity to be trained by nonother than Paul "Goody" Goodison. Also for all Waszp Sailors participating at Foiling Week Malcesine 2021, coaching with Tom Slingsby will be made available. Visit here to sign-up.
There will also be the opportunity for all who sign-up through our website to try out the new Manta5 HydroFoiler XE-1. It is open to all sailors and cyclists who want to enter the 3.0 world of foiling. Each boat will be closely followed by a rib with an instructor who will guide the experience and ensure safety. There will even be the opportunity to see in action and schedule a trial with the Lift electric foil boards, with their all-new LIFT3 eFoil.
Also available for trial, there will be a 20 minutes Waszp clinic, with a dedicated coach from Europa Sail, the Italian distributor of Waszp, as well as a 90-minute course, where you will have the opportunity to try foiling with professional trainers and different types of boats. In collaboration with Andrew Simpson Water Sports Center, the foilers available are RS Aero foiling, foil windsurfing and Laser foiling. Visit here to sign-up.
It is important to underline that Candela has kindly supplied one of their electric foiling motorboats as official guest boat and that the coaching rib for all on-water activities will be powered by a Torqeedo electric motor.
And that's not all; after the water activities have come to a close, thanks to the support of our partner Polynt, various social events will take place to welcome all competitors and sailing enthusiast to Malcesine and allow them to share knowledge and enjoy the beauties of Garda Lake. We can't wait to see you all on the banks of the lake!