iQFOiL: Right project, Right moment

The USA proved again at the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships to be one of the top sailing nations, but the challenge has been to convert the young talent into Olympic contenders. An obstacle has been an interruption in training, as many pursue collegiate dinghy racing rather than further refine technical skill.

But of the ten Olympic events, the Windsurfer and Kiteboard athletes are immune to this issue, and may even benefit from college competition. Could this be the new frontier for the USA Olympic Sailing Program? Coach Adrien Gaillard provides this report on progress with the new Olympic iQFOiL windsurfer:

The windsurfing youth summer block has just been as busy as it was successful for the America One Racing iQFOiL squad.

Hawaiians Sage and Makani Andrews qualified for the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships in Garda (ITA) and needed a solid preparation for it. While Garrett January and Graceanna Dixon from Florida did not qualify for Worlds (only one sailor per country per class), they were committed to competing at the 2024 iQFOiL Youth European Championship in Embrun (FRA) – just a week before Garda.

Both Sage and Makani have great skills on the board, but were lacking racing experience so competing at the Europeans right before the Worlds was a great opportunity for them to practice some of the aspects which are hard to put in place when training by yourself, such as managing starts and mark rounding when the fleet is packed.

Before going to Europe, we met in Kaneohe (HI) on June to set up technical bases and have a last opportunity to train at high intensity. I suspect if I say Hawaii is a dream place to sail, most would think it is due to the consistent conditions. However, what truly makes it a dream place is its people.

Every family involved always give their best to make the project work with a true love for their community, treating each kid like if they would be their own. In my opinion, this is a key element to making magic happen: creating the right environment.

On July, we headed all together to Embrun, a small lake in the French Alps where those kids were about to compete against 300 other athletes from more than 30 countries.

With the support of “dream team mothers” Laura January and Lynn Dixon, we managed to get the best out of the squad’s energy during long days so they can push at the right time.

In a corner of my mind, it was also essential that Makani can get the most out of this experience without pushing too much because he was still recovering from COVID-19 and the Worlds were at the next corner.

After eight days, 16 races, a final series and lots of pumping, Makani finished 7th (14th last year) and Garrett 21st (56th last year).

Garrett still has two years to go on the U19 fleet and lots of dream to pursue. He will, starting in September, study in France and train with the local team of La Baule which will be an unforgettable experience for him and definitely a path to strive for his potential.

Sage and Graceanna finished their first big fleet regatta with a 38th and 41st.

Sage really needed that experience before the Worlds to get more confident and comfortable around so many girls and realized that she was actually fast when focused on the right things.

Makani was satisfied of the whole week in general but disappointed about that crash on the final series preventing him to qualify for Semi Finals. That type of incident is often what gives extra strength and awareness for what is coming next.

Makani and Sage arrived recovered and ready in Garda which was my main goal. There was no fear or concern about other sailors and issues they do not have control on anymore. It was just about them giving their best, have fun and figure out afterwards what that means on a result sheet.

Thank you Samy, Jesse and the whole Windclub Hawaii crew for your passion for the sport of sailing and sharing it daily with the kids. Thank you America One Racing for having the vision of supporting the right projects at the right moments, with the right people. The potential is here, let’s support it.