Late winds in Torbole decide iQFOiL youth and junior medals

Late winds on Lake Garda turned a stop-start regatta into a final-day race for medals, and the sailors who handled the interruptions best ended up on top. After unstable weather and a lack of wind slowed the opening days in Torbole, the Medal Series finally had room to breathe, with the top eight in each fleet advancing into a knockout format that could reset the standings in a hurry.

The iQFOiL Youth & Junior International Games ran from May 4 to May 9 at Lake Garda Trentino, organized by Circolo Surf Torbole on behalf of the Italian Sailing Federation in cooperation with the International iQFOiL Youth & Junior Class Association. The core youth and junior fleets listed 180 athletes from 21 nations, while another event tally put the field at a record 218 athletes from 23 nations, a scale that matched the class’s rapid growth. For young foil racers, Torbole again proved why it matters: the venue can expose raw speed, but it also punishes inconsistency when the wind disappears.

That was clear on Day 4, when racing only briefly returned with the Ora before a thunderstorm northwest of Torbole shut the circuit down after three U19 men’s heats. The regatta recovered only at the end, first on Friday with northerly winds before the classic Ora filled in, then on Saturday when early southerlies of about 11 to 13 knots finally gave the finals the steady pressure they needed. In a format built around quarterfinals, semifinals and title races, there was little room for a bad start or a lapse in tactics.

Finn Brüll of the Netherlands managed the U19 men’s pressure better than anyone else. He had to go through two finals to win the title, taking third in the first final before returning with a stronger start and winning the second to collect the decisive point. Poland’s Gustaw Trybek took silver and France’s Titouan Dizet earned bronze.

Israel’s Alba Klein won the U19 women’s fleet, with France’s Salomé Simon second. Italy’s Vittoria Marconi produced one of the sharpest comebacks of the weekend, advancing from the quarterfinals through the semifinals and into the final before taking bronze for Lega Navale Italiana Civitavecchia. In the U17 boys, Germany’s Moritz Schleicher beat Czech sailor Frantisek Burda in the first final, with France’s Mahé Givernaud third. The U17 girls race was just as tight, as Poland’s Marta Gajdzinska finished first, the Netherlands’ Anna Jannieke Korevaar was second, and Italy’s Elisa Bruno took third after strong knockout-round runs for SEF Stamura, Ancona, while fellow Italian Elettra Fulgenzi also progressed deep into the bracket.

The result was more than a medal table. The class’s youth and junior gear is built to smooth the step into Olympic windsurfing foil, and Torbole showed that progression under pressure still produces clean, high-level racing. After hosting the iQFOiL Youth & Junior Europeans in 2023, Lake Garda again confirmed its place as a proving ground for the next generation.