Happy birthday to Foiling Week
by Foiling Week 16 Jun 2023 09:20 UTC
26 June - 5 July 2023
Foiling Week 2022 © Martina Orsini / Foiling Week
On the shores of the Garda Lake near the town of Malcesine, on June 23rd 2014, the future global reference event for foiling enthusiasts from all over the world took its first steps. Since then, nine editions have been held in Italy, two in Australia and two in the United States, plus a Special Event lasting almost two months in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) last year.
Today Foiling Week is part of the We Are Foiling ecosystem, whose projects include the Foiling Awards, dedicated to the most appreciated expressions of foiling in the last 12 months, the Foiling Film Festival showcase, the SuMoth Challenge university contest, and The Foiling Organization, the first association entirely dedicated to the foiling industry and its professionals worldwide.
The We Are Foiling Community has now almost 60,000 organic followers, and an average monthly reach of over 5 million contacts.
To celebrate the anniversary, this year's edition will take place over ten days, from June 26th to July 5th, and will host ten different classes including the SuMoth prototypes: 69F, WASZP, Moth, ETF26, Onefly, Flying Phantom, Birdyfish, Wingfoil and IQ Foil boards (the latter stationed at Circolo Surf di Torbole).
Once again Foiling Week will be hosted by the Municipality of Malcesine and the Fraglia Vela Malcesine, a club that has in its DNA the creation of regattas of excellence. Here's where Olympic classes have always been trained and boats destined to make sailing history are tested.
Grand finale for the SuMoth Challenge 2023 within top universities and their students. During the Foiling Week, the highlights of the challenge between engineering and naval architecture universities from all over the world to design and build the best performing and at the same time sustainable boat will take place.
More than 250 future engineers and architects will represent some of the most illustrious Universities in the world: Politecnico di Milano (ITA), ICAM Nantes (FRA), University of Pavia (ITA), École de Technologie Supérieure (CAN), Chalmers University (SWE), University of Solent (UK), Politecnico di Torino (ITA).
The open session for the presentation and evaluation of the competing projects, scheduled for July 2nd, will precede the speed tests and the fleet races before the award ceremony on the 5th.
The SuMoth Challenge has significant support from the philanthropic organization 11th Hour Racing and is organized with the collaboration of its sponsors MarineShift360, Bcomp, Persico Marine and GAC Pindar, in partnership with the Sustainable Marine Alliance.
On July 1st an invitation-only party is scheduled to celebrate Foiling Week's birthday with friends.
The 2023 edition logo is fully dedicated to #TheMagentaProject to promote the integration of women in professional sailing. The Magenta Project, with which Foiling Week has been collaborating since 2016, is a collective of people committed to developing pathways and opportunities for ever greater inclusivity and gender equity in sport sailing.
During the event, a charity auction - also accessible online - is scheduled. Proceeds will be donated to support The Magenta Project.
Kicking off this year is what promises to be an important strategic collaboration between the renowned Italian manufacturer of technical sportswear SLAM and the projects of the We Are Foiling system, of which Foiling Week represents the apex.
"Luca Rizzotti and his team were always at the forefront when it came to foiling, already believing in what soon became an era-defining turning point across the world of sailing as early as ten years ago - underlined Maurizio Priano, SLAM's Brand Manager - What they are building is a driving force behind the next generation of sailors and a renewed approach to accessibility throughout sailing founded on the same core values shared by SLAM: innovation, inclusion, sustainability and safety. Our decision to contribute to this journey came naturally, before any strategic gain was taken into consideration, similarly to our other partnerships, which see us working side-by-side with the Italian Sailing Federation's Olympic team, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, VO65 Austrian Ocean Racing - Team Genova at The Ocean Race and Emirates Team New Zealand, Defender of the 37th America's Cup."
Foiling Week 2023 has partnered with Green Future Project (GFP), an Italian company certified Digital Partner by RINA and B-Corp. GFP was created with the goal of supporting businesses in achieving their sustainability goals. Through GFP's software, the carbon footprint resulting from the organization of the entire Foiling Week will be calculated, providing a clear overview of the environmental impact generated. This process is a key starting point for the development of a truly effective and long-term sustainability strategy. At the end of the monitoring and data collection, a structured report and action plan will be provided, both of which are useful in changing and improving critical areas and becoming more sustainable year after year.
In keeping with tradition, during the event foiling enthusiasts will have the opportunity to test on Befoil, Birdyfish, UFO, Proteus 360 and Lift eFoil, advised by expert instructors. It will be possible to book water trials by consulting the dedicated section on the Foiling Week website at foilingweek.com/trials
As to the Foiling Film Festival, a significant selection of the most representative foiling movies of the last period will be proposed to fans and participants during the ten days on Garda Lake.
On the afternoon of June 30th the Splicing Masterclass "Technological Innovations in Fiber for the Foiling World" organized by the "Foiling Week Official Ropes Supplier" Gottifredi Maffioli, will be held at the Fraglia and conducted by Luigi Maffioli and Davide Fuzzi. Tokyo gold medallist Ruggero Tita is expected to attend the workshop.
On July 1st and 2nd, Jacopo Plazzi Marzotto, Coach of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli AC Team and Suisse SailGP Team, will lead a professional foiling training session reserved to female instructors organized with the support of World Sailing. Clinics dedicated to the UFO and Birdyfish classes are also scheduled.
The "Foiling Technology Pavilion", the new feature at the Metstrade 2023 (Amsterdam, November 15th to 17th) entirely dedicated to the foiling industry and professionals and realized in collaboration with The Foiling Organization, will be the subject of a conference for professionals on July 1st.
Foiling Week is a World Sailing Special Event, something like what "Grand Slam" tournaments represent for tennis.
foilingweek.com