The Best in the Country Gather at the Ibiza Wingfoil Open Spanish Racing Championship

This Thursday, October 3rd, the official presentation of the Ibiza Wingfoil Open Spanish Racing Championship (IWO) took place, which will be held starting tomorrow, Friday, October 4th, until next Sunday, October 6th, in the bay of Portmany, under the organization of the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni (CNSA) and the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation.

The event was held in the 'Village' of the event, set up on the central pier of the CNSA, and featured the participation of the insular director of Sports, Javier Bonet; the councilor of Sports of Sant Antoni, Daniel Sánchez; the representative in Spain of the sponsoring firm Starboard, Jorge Tarodo, and the sports director of the CNSA, Enrique Mas.

It should be noted that the IWO will feature the maximum quota of racers, a total of 68, among whom are the best in Spain. To achieve this level, the CNSA has carried out multiple presentations in the main enclaves where this sport is practiced, such as Fuerteventura, Tarifa, and the Levantine coast. Thanks to these promotional initiatives, the highest level of sport has been achieved, as well as the landing, for the first time in Spain, of the X-15 wingfoil monotype class, including a clinic already being given by the six-time Olympian Maksim Oberemko, both to Balearic enthusiasts and to IWO participants, courtesy of the Starboard brand.

The logistics of the event also deserve mention, whose main curiosity lies in that in the bay of Portmany, competitors board a tourist ferry to move to the best place to perform the tests. This is a system that allows for maximum utilization of wind conditions in different competition areas. As a novelty, long-distance courses that cross the bay in one direction or another, depending on the prevailing wind conditions, will also be included. These types of races are performed with 'rabbit' starts, where competitors all start at once behind a motor-powered boat. This modality is used in events like Le Defi, a massive event that takes place in the south of France every year and is notable for its spectacularity.

Participants come from the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Valencian Community, Castilla la Mancha, and the Balearic Islands, the latter contributing the most participants, including seven island racers: Marcos Colomar, Alan Benlloch, Paco Fernández, Javier Morillo, Daniel Alarcón, Enrique Mas, and María Costa. The competition starts tomorrow at 3 PM, continues on Saturday at 12 PM, and ends on Sunday, with races starting at 11:30 AM.