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Wind does not discriminate—it touches everyone, everything.
ssshhhhhhhhm fffhhhhh and a second later a kite, a windsurfer, or a moth, suddenly soars past you, only an inch from the dinghy in the middle of the lake or sea, flying, of course, on foils. Sailing is no longer just the 'music' of the water crashing against the hull, but the sound, or ultrasound, of the speed of the board, of the hull flying over the waves. If in the city we have electric cars silently whizzing past you, in the water we now have the new foil generation doing the exact same thing!
Having founded Foiling Week ten years ago, the event’s creators were clearly visionaries; those same ten years ago, SLAM stood side-by-side with the very first edition of Foiling Week, firmly believing that this new way of sailing represented the future and, above all, could win the favour of future generations to come, who would enjoy the experience of high-speed sailing, throwing themselves into a completely new way of looking at the sport.
Italy has also been keeping pace in the Olympic classes: in the Nacra, iQFoil and Kite classes, the latest international results are showing clear signs of technical progress. The Nacra team in particular is unstoppable: after the Olympic gold medal of our SLAM ambassadors Tita-Banti, Italy has continued to consistently achieve a podium finish across the most important events, most recently at the historic International Regatta in Kiel, the Olympus of sailing, where Margherita Porro and Stefano Dezulian won gold.
So, we went to hear from Margherita herself what it means to foil, a passion theFiamme Gialleathlete, following a significant deal of experience in fast and modern skiff sailing, first on the 29er (with which she won the World Youth Championship in 2017) and then on the 49er FX, discovered many years ago, with the Moth and now enjoys on the Olympic Nacra 17:
Ten years later, we find ourselves surrounded by flying boats: from the greatest expression developed for the America's Cup, first catamarans and now the AC75 and AC40 monohulls, to smaller Wing Foils, Kites, windsurfers, catamarans, or small monohulls designed for the very young, who after experiencing the Optimist are already dreaming of transitioning to the Waszp or other similar 'terrible' boats. Breathing a new energy, a new technology into the world of sailing as a whole, in which everything has returned to an exciting square one: designers, builders, athletes, coaches, Race Officials, and organising clubs have found themselves in a completely new reality, with problems that had never been faced until now – demanding new solutions from a technological, strategic, organisational, and logistical standpoint. And this is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire foiling movement, which has profoundly revolutionised the concept of sailing: in every single section of board, hull, sail, appendages, the a few millimetres can make a significant difference, but above all, there is still so much more to discover about how performance can be improved, from the ideal weight of the athlete/crew to everything else.
Foiling Week, which is making its return to Malcesine, as it does every summer (26th June – 5th July 2023), offers a 360° view of the world of foiling, bringing together all parties involved, a symposium for the insiders, but also for those who want to see what is available on the market, with the opportunity to experience material tests or simply enjoy foiling champions racing in different classes, the number of which will be 10 this year.
