2026 iQFOiL Master Worlds: The Journey Was The Destination!
Xavier Ferlet traveled to Europe this summer to see family and attend the 2026 iQFOiL Master Worlds in Silvaplana, Switzerland. This being summer in the Alps, weather was a factor and a full week of racing came down to just one day, but Xavier made the most of it and came home with a medal around his neck (and a bottle of wine to warm up)! The event was fun, but the journey was the real adventure this time around! Check out his report for US Windsurfing:
By Xavier Ferlet
The adventure started on August 4, the day after flying home from Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin for business. I flew to France first to visit my 83 year old Mum. I’d picked Lufthansa thinking that they would charge me less than Air France for the IQFOIL kit. Not my finest decision, as it turned out!
The company charged me $1,160 for the bags and managed to lose the foils which are worth $7k. That was not a good start to the adventure! Lufthansa’s website was useless too. They asked me if I had put an AirTag in the foil bag as an admission that they had no idea where the foil was. In the end my wife arrived five days later and found the foils at the airport in Nantes. They had probably been sitting there for four days without the airline knowing. So much for filling out the form requesting a home delivery.
I still managed to foil for a couple of days at home in France before driving to Silvaplana in Switzerland for the Masters Worlds on iQFOiL. We arrived there on Thursday August 13 after a 12-hour drive. There was no wind that afternoon so I tried pump foiling with some rented kit. Friday to Sunday had some wind and rain which was good to practice with old friends Fernando and Gonzalo. The regatta started on Monday August 17. Monday and Tuesday were windless, so no racing.
Finally, the weather cleared on Wednesday and we were greeted with a nice breeze and sunshine. The wind blew from 10 to 13 knots for the first two races. Silvaplana is very tactical. I started on starboard in the first race but the extra pressure on the right favored the port starters. The wind picked up to 15-22 knots for the last three races. I was getting overpowered downwind. In hindsight I should have gone back to the shore in between races to adjust my settings.
I got four 5th places and one 6th, so pretty consistent. Gonzalo showed that experience at this venue was paramount with a dominant performance. The last two days were windless and rainy. I finished 5th overall, and 2nd in the over 50 category. Next year, I’ll be in the over 60 category! You can check out the full results right here.
The organizers did an amazing job at this legendary venue. The scenery at Silvaplana was breathtaking. The drive to Milan airport was amazing through the Alps on Saturday. Royal Air Maroc took 2.5 hours to check in the IQFOIL kit but the 132 euros charge was a welcome discount compared to the $1,160 charge by Lufthansa. The seven hour layover in Casablanca leaves plenty of time to transfer the luggage. This time I’m tracking everything like a hawk with AirTags!
The plan is to run the Masters Worlds in Portimao, Portugal next year. I’m already thinking about booking the trip!
