A line-up of elite windsurfers will take on the Foiling 100 Challenge, 100 kilometres from Malta to Ragusa, billed as the longest single-stage windfoil race in the world.
At 59, Jean Paul Fleri Soler is the most experienced of the fleet. He represented Malta at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games and has won the Sicily–Malta windsurf race three times, though he is fairly new to the iQFoil class. Brothers Karl (26) and Shaun (22) Miggiani started in the class four years ago, and Karl has just set a national record in the final qualifier. Thomas Zammit Tabona, 30, has raced offshore since he was young, including as part of the Elusive 2 crew in the 2019 Rolex Middle Sea Race.
They face three international sailors: Germany’s Nico Prien, a PWA World Tour professional and president of the Professional Windsurfers’ Association; Bob van de Burgt of the Netherlands, currently ranked 22nd overall; and Poland’s Kamil Manowiecki, a multiple Polish champion, RS:X European silver medallist and Formula World Championship bronze medallist who is studying in Malta.
Principal Race Officer Andrew Wilson, a windsurfer at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, explained that the race will be held over the weekend, possibly from Ragusa to Malta depending on the weather, with a lead boat for every sailor and separate medical and safety teams. Malta Young Sailors Club Commodore Christian Bajada highlighted the club’s experience of international events such as the Euromed.
Photo Credit: Yachting Malta / Joseph Muscat
