Grae Morris Takes on the iQFOiL World Championships in Shifty Conditions
by Lisa Darmanin / Australian Sailing Team 7 Jul 11:38 NZST
4-11 July 2025
Aarhus, Denmark is serving up everything but predictability as the iQFOiL World Championships get under way, and Australian Olympic silver medallist Grae Morris is ready to assert his place at the top of the new Olympic cycle.
Morris, who took silver in Paris last year, has already proven he's more than up to the challenge of 2028. With two golds and a silver under his belt this season, the 21-year-old is eyeing nothing short of a podium finish.
More than 200 of the world's best windsurfers from over 40 nations have descended on Denmark for the first World Championships of the new Olympic quad, and with Olympic medallists from both Tokyo and Paris in the fleet, the intensity is high and so is the pressure.
The six-day regatta, running through to July 11, opened with a punch. A fading westerly breeze created an unpredictable and tactical racecourse that kept even the most seasoned sailors guessing. Despite the chaos, Morris remains firmly in the hunt among the 116-strong men's fleet.
"It was a pretty shifty day," said Australian coach Arthur Brett. "Winds ranged from 6 to 12 knots with 20-degree shifts on the men's course. Four races were completed, with Grae finishing seventh, second, fourth, and 23rd. The Race Committee has since made the interesting decision to discard race three, three hours after its completion - due to the fickle nature of the conditions."
Australia's depth in the class is also growing, with three other men in the field, including rising Queenslander Rory Meehan, who's showing real promise. "Rory had some solid races and is developing nicely," Brett added.
In the Women's division, Australia is represented by Samantha Costin and Anna Cripsey, who are both continuing to build valuable international experience.
This World Championship also marks the first Worlds to feature the newly introduced smaller sail sizes. The change, which was implemented after the Paris Olympics, aims to make the class more accessible to lighter athletes and broaden competitiveness across the fleet. The men's sail has shifted from 9 to 8 square metres, with the women's moving from 8 to 7.3.
"We still don't have enough data on whether this has achieved the outcome it was introduced for," Brett explained. However, the lighter rigs will certainly be put to the test in Aarhus. "The forecast for the regatta is for light winds, and the team is looking forward to the remaining races," he added.
Qualifying continues over the next two days before the fleet splits into Gold and Silver for the final stages. The regatta culminates in a high-stakes elimination final on July 11, with global livestreaming from July 9 to 11 giving fans around the world the chance to follow the action.
Full list of results at 2025iqworldsaarhus.sailti.com/en/default/races/race-resultsall
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Pathway Team (ASPT), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and other Australian (AUS) results after day 1 at the World Championship:
iQFOiL Men - 117 Entries
10th - Grae Morris (AST)
30th - Rory Meehan (ASF)
82nd - Philip Cripsey (ASF)
99th - Jarrod Jones (ASF)
iQFOiL Women - 79 Entries
61st - Samantha Costin (ASF)
69th - Anna Cripsey (AUS)