September 8, 2021 - Organized by the Sailing Club Labud from Split and the Bol windsurfing club Zoo Station Bol, the Open European Junior Windsurfing Championship in the new Olympic class iQ Foil began on Zlatni Rat.

118 competitors from 17 countries are taking part in the regatta, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France, Latvia, Poland, Israel, Slovenia, and others, and Maroje Škoro and Ian Anić are competing for Croatia.

Following the successful organization of the World Windsurfing Championships in July this year, Bol is once again showing its attractive sporting side and will host the young hopes of the World Windsurfing Championships until Sunday September 12 - among whom may be future Olympic winners. Namely, this is one of a series of regattas in which competitors are also preparing to perform at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

The iQ foil class was approved in November 2019 by the World Sailing Council as windsurfing equipment at the 2024 Olympic Games in France. So the IQ foil replaced RS: X, which had been the Olympic equipment of choice since Beijing in 2008. It was a big win for Starboard and North sailboard manufacturers, who have been working on innovations for many years and developing equipment that will be equally exciting and suitable for Olympic windsurfing, but also the average recreational surfer.

"Apart from the fact that it's nice to have a competition of this rank in Bol, which has already proven to be a real mecca for windsurfing, and iQFoil could become the only class that unites all surfers - the Olympic community, PWA, and weekend surfers - I'm thrilled to be in this class. We have our young, talented competitors to whom I wish good luck and good wind," says Toni Bulić, one of the two organizers of the competition.

iQFOiL is the result of many years of development of surfing equipment that allows windsurfing from 6 to 35 knots regardless of sea conditions. It is also characteristic of the class that it is standardized - that is, all competitors in the men's and women's competition ride identical equipment. There are three iQFOiL class formats - course, slalom, and marathon - which will all be run in Bol as well, while the competition always ends with a medal race in which the 12 best competitors in each race enter.

On Sunday, September 12, we will watch three separate medal races - in each of the three competition formats - and the final will include four overall best competitors. After the first day, Ian Anić is an excellent fifth in the under-17 category.

Photos: Clive Bevan/Roni Marinković

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