More than 350 sailors of 39 nationalities will compete for the Lanzarote International Regatta

The Canary Island hosts a new event for Olympic sailing classes from February 9 to 17, an event that keeps growing, setting a new record number of entries and adding four new classes to the Lanzarote start line.

369 sailors from four continents and in six Olympic classes are already prepared for a competition that will once again focus the Olympic sailing spotlight on Lanzarote.

Lanzarote continues as the winter epicentre of Olympic sailing. After the success of the recent Lanzarote iQFOil Games, now it is the turn of the Lanzarote International Regatta, a test that hosts a total of six Olympic classes -49er, 49erFX, 470, iQFOil Women and Men and Nacra 17- that will bring together more than 350 sailors from Asia, America, Oceania and Europe, including Olympic champions and medallists, world and continental champions and many of the Top 3 in the world.

The first classes to compete will be 470 Mixed, 49er and 49erFX, with registrations on Thrusday the 9th while competition will start on Friday the 10th. iQFOil and Nacra 17 will begin racing on the water on Tuesday, February 14th

49er, 49erFX and 470, first classes to be on the starting line

The world champions of these three classes, as well as Olympic medallists and champions, are already training in Lanzarote and have not wanted to miss the opportunity to add hours of sailing in the amazing different conditions offered by this Canary Island.

The fast 49er and 49erFX skiffs already know what it's like to participate in Olympic Games, while the 470 mixed class will debut as an Olympic fleet in Paris 2024 and it also does so as a class here at the third edition of the Lanzarote International Regatta.

More than 30 crews from countries such as Argentina, Italy, France, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Turkey and Spain will be at the 470’s start line. There is no shortage of the last world and European class podiums, with the current world champions, Germans Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth; the world and European runners-up, the Spanish Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman; and the European champions, the Swedes Anton Dahlberg -silver in Tokyo in the former 470 Men now racing with Lovisa Karlsson-.

As the 470 class is now mixed, we also see in its ranks many Olympic medalists now sailing with new crews. Thus, athletes like Spaniard Nico Rodríguez (bronze medal in Tokyo together with Xammar) is now sailing with his compatriot Silvia Mas, or the French Camille Lecointre and Aloïse Retornaz  (bronze in Tokyo) will also compete for the title in Lanzarote with a new crewmember.

At the start line of the 49erFX class, we will see a total of 58 sailors with the Brazilians Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, two-time Olympic champions (Rio 2016 and Tokyo), as well as world champions.

The Brazilians are undoubtedly one of the benchmarks in the class, however it is a very close category in which we will also see the current world champions, the Dutch Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz, who are already in Lanzarote.

A beautiful fight is also expected in the 49er class, with the presence of crews from 15 countries, including the current Top 3 in the world: the Dutch Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken -world champions-, the Spaniards Diego Botín and Florian Trittel -runners-up- and the Croatian brothers Sime and Mihovil Fantela. Let's remember that Sime already knows what it is to win an Olympic medal thanks to the gold achieved in Rio 2016 in the 470 Men.

The Nacra 17 mixed catamaran makes its debut at the Lanzarote International Regatta with almost fifty sailors from 16 countries. 

Flying windsurfing stays in Lanzarote after the success of the iQFOil Games

The only ones who will be in the Lanzarote International Regatta that will compete here not for the first but for the second time of this new season are the iQFOil, the Olympic windsurfing class that will debut in Paris 2024. They ended the Lanzarote iQFOil Games just one week away and they are already prepared for a new assault on their way to the next Olympic Games.

They will be the largest classes, with 77 male competitors and 65 women.

Once again the current world champions Sebastian Kölder (GER) and Marta Maggetti (ITA) will compete in Lanzarote, as well as the European champion Nicolas Goyard (FRA) and the current #1 in the world ranking and winner of the 2022 & 2023 Lanzarote iQFOil Games, Pilar Lamadrid (ESP).

Racing: 49er, 49erFX and 470, from February 10 to 13. Nacra 17 and iQFOIl, from 14 to 17.

It is expected that the 49er and 49erFX classes will complete from Friday, the 10th, and until Monday, the 13th, a maximum of 12 races plus the Medal Race, a double-scoring race that only the 10 best classified will have access to. In the case of the 470 Mixed there will be a maximum of 10 races and the Medal Race.

The rest of the classes that compete in the Lanzarote International Regatta 2023 -Nacra 17 and iQFOil Women and Men- will compete from the 14th until Friday, the 17th. In the case of the Nacra 17, the maximum number of scheduled races is 12 plus the Medal Race, while iQFOils could complete up to 16 races of up to three different formats –marathon, slalom and course racing-, and then also the Medal Series.

This international event organized by Marina Rubicón with the support of the Royal Canarian Sailing Federation is possible thanks to the institutional sponsorship of Promotur Turismo de Canarias with the financing of the REACTEU Fund and Tourism of the Cabildo de Lanzarote through the sports product European Sports Destination (managed by SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote), as well as the public collaboration of the Yaiza City Council and the private entities Dinghycoach, Naviera Armas & Cabrera Medina (Cicar).

Text: Helena Paz Cornes

Keeping the pressure up

Luuc van Opzeeland and Emma Wilson continue to lead iQFOiL World Championships in Lanzarote for the third day in a row. Tomorrow will see a marathon and more Course Racing starting at 10:00 local time.

Day 1 draws a blank at the 2024 iQFOiL World Championships

The 212 Olympic windsurfers who have gathered in Lanzarote for the 2024 iQFOiL World Championships will have to wait until Tuesday for the first races. There was insufficient wind on Day 1 and the opening races are now programmed for tomorrow, starting at 11:00 island time.

The fight for the iQFOiL world title starts tomorrow in Lanzarote

On the beautiful Canary Island of Lanzarote everything is ready for Monday’s start of the iQFOiL World Championships, the first major world championship of an Olympic class to be held in Europe in this 2024 Olympics season. More than 200 athletes from 43 countries on five continents will compete over six days of competition culminating in the title deciding Grand Final on Saturday, February 3 followed by the prize-giving

Olympic sailing classes choose Lanzarote

Lanzarote is getting ready to usher in the Olympic sailing season ahead of what promises to be an exciting, challenging year. Ahead of Paris 2024 nearly half of the Olympic sailing World Championships have chosen Marina Rubicón as their venue.

The wind was there, but it wouldn’t play ball

The sunshine was out and the northerly breeze was blowing, but the direction was all over the place on day seven of the Lanzarote International Regatta. Sailors have come from around the world to train and race out of Marina Rubicón in the south of Lanzarote, but even the most reliable of sailing venues has its ‘off days’

Kiwis lead Nacra 17s, Kantor & Sills top iQFOiL

Tuesday was the start of part 2 of the Lanzarote International Regatta. After two days of the dusty Calima breeze from the Sahara, today the sunshine returned to the Canary Islands, and 10 to 14 knots of wind were blowing for the opening day of Nacra 17 and iQFOiL racing

Two British skiff golds and a Spanish 1-2 in the 470

Winds of 13 to 19 knots for three Medal Races in poor ‘Calima’ visibility. Last gasp victory for Xammar & Brugman in the 470 Victory for Great Britain in men’s and women’s skiff fleets. Four days of Nacra 17 & iQFOiL windsurfer competition start on Tuesday.

Not the Wind, not the Waves, but the Sahara!

Anton Dahlberg & Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) extended their lead in the 470 after winning another big wave, big wind race on day three of the Lanzarote International Regatta. It proved to be the only race of the day, with no competition for the 49er or 49erFX fleets.

“Defo the Biggest Wave of My Life!”

Big wind and huge, steep swell set a massive physical challenge for the three Olympic fleets on day two of the Lanzarote International Regatta in the Canary Islands.

Lanzarote ready to test top Olympians

More than 360 of the world’s best sailors are ready to compete at the Lanzarote International Regatta, which takes place in the south of the Canary Island from 9 to 17 February

Main Sponsors

Cabildo de Lanzarote
Lanzarote Reserva de la Biosfera
Turismo Lanzarote
Turismo Lanzarote
Unión Europea - Fondos Next Generation
Ministerio de Industria y Turismo
Plan de Recuperación y Resilencia
Islas Canarias - Calidad de Vida
Gobierno de Canarias
Marina Rubicón

Organizers

Marina Rubicón
Real Federación Canaria de Vela
DinghyCoach
iQFOiL Class

Collaborators

Ayuntamiento de Yaiza
Federación de Vela Latina Canaria
Federación Insular de Vela Latina Lanzarote
Federación Canaria de Barquillos
World Sailing
Trasmediterránea
Naviera Armas
Club de Regatas 4 Vientos
Cicar
Coca Cola