76 Moths at Foiling Week including celebrities CJ Perez, Giles Scott, Emily Nagel, Simone Salvà
by We Are Foiling 3 Jul 2023 06:54 NZST
26 June - 5 July 2023
Giles Scott at 10th Anniversary Foiling Week © Martina Orsini / We Are Foiling Media
The second half of the 10th edition of Foiling Week started today with 76 Moths on Lake Garda, with the Wing Foil and Flying Phantom classes joining the racing tomorrow.
While already being treated to Olympic, Ocean Race and SailGP talent this past week in the ETF26, Waszp and 69F classes, there are definitely more sailing celebrities to impress us on the race course in the next few days.
The Moth Class is a superb collection of pro-sailors with America's Cup and Ocean Race Winner Luke 'Parko' Parkinson, two-time Olympic gold medalist and INEOS Britannia AC Team tactician Giles Scott, Ocean Racer Emily Nagel and Moth talent Lisa Schweigert and more big name sailors registered since last week.
Simon Hiscocks is a double Olympic medalist in the 49er and since his Olympic career, Hiscocks has been prominent in the Foiling Moth class.
CJ Perez joined the United States SailGP Team as a highly-skilled foiling competitor and debuted with the team in 2021 as the youngest athlete at 18 years old - and first latina - to compete at SailGP. Having won the 2021 WASZP USA Championship she has been actively campaigning globally in the Moth class.
CJ is here on her own for the second time at Foiling week. She sailed Waszp in 2022 and now is racing her Moth. Though she was digging through her tool box putting together her new hard-winged, low drag Bieker Moth, she is playing safe and racing her Exocet boat this week. She explains: "It's a bit of a learning curve but I'm super stoked to have upgraded to this boat. I think it will help a lot with my Moth sailing." On asking her about her experience at Foiling Week she enthusiastically responds: "Everyone's just here having a good time, learning from each other. Sometimes I need something or someone comes to me. We bond over things like something we broke that day. There's always something to talk about in the boat park."
Enzo Balanger from France, 6th place winner in the 2023 Moth Worlds, is another name to watch, as he could provide local talent Simone Salvà from Fraglia Vela Malcesine, fourth place winner of the Worlds, with serious competition.
Spectators aboard the event's official hospitality vessel, Siora Veronica, will be witnessing the largest start of the year, starting 76 participants in the Moth Class at once. With wind speeds of 14 knots and increasing winds predicted, the second half of Foiling Week is off to a spectacular start.
Wing Foil races start tomorrow with 25 participants and Foiling Week will once again be the stage for a world premiere. Starboard has brought fifteen Wingfoil X-15s to race for the very first time, showcasing the sets with the aim to generate a one-design class that may eventually participate in the Olympic Games.
The final class to start tomorrow is the Flying Phantom, with 5 entries from the Swiss Foiling Academy. This program is led by sailmaker Julien Monnier with Loïc Forestier (ex- Realteam) helming. As experienced professionals, they are passionate to motivate and train young Swiss sailors (18 - 25) in order to popularize catamaran sailing on foils by making it accessible to young people.
Official results can be found here.
Photos, videos and more information can be found at foilingweek.com