NZL Sailing Team: Bronze in Womens iQFoil gets LA28 campaign off to a flying start
by Eduan Roos/Yachting NZ 6 Apr 2025 00:54 PDT
iQFoil - NZL - Princess Sofia Trophy - Mallorca - March - April 2025 © Sailing Energy
Veerle ten Have has made a near-perfect start to a new Olympic campaign, eight months after impressing at her debut Games.
The 24-year-old Tauranga sailor claimed bronze in the women's iQFOiL at the 2025 Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in Palma overnight, following a strong display of speed and consistency in her first major regatta since finishing 10th at Paris2024 Olympic Regtta in Marseille last August.
Ten Have won eight races in qualifying this week to advance to the knockout series in third overall. It was a position she wouldn't relinquish, winning her semifinal against Lola Sorin of France, Germany's Theresa Steinlein, and Mina Mobekk of Norway to make the four-board final. Ten Have finished behind Emma Wilson (Britain) and Zheng Yan (China) in the medal race for her first podium since also winning bronze at the same event in 2023.
"It feels great to be back competing with the fleet again and seeing all the faces, as many of them have already had a regatta in Cadiz and have been training together in Lanzarote," Ten Have said.
“I started off pretty rusty on the first day, just trying to find the groove again, but I managed to slowly get back into fleet racing."
Conditions demanded both speed and tactical awareness, she said.
"The week was very tricky wind-wise. You had to constantly have your head up and look around to make smart decisions. It was cool to have to use some brains rather than only speed."
While for many, the Princess Sofia marked the first international event since the Olympics, it also signals the official start of the campaign for Los Angeles 2028.
Ten Have admits it's taken some time to adjust to the new sail sizes introduced by World Sailing at the start of the year. The changes have seen women move from an 8m² sail to a 7.3m² version, aimed at making the class more inclusive for athletes of all body sizes, improving accessibility, and easing the transition from youth to senior classes.
"The new sails have sure been interesting, and I'm still figuring out how to make them go fast and what the ideal settings are," Ten Have said.
"I feel like we're getting a step closer every session, and it's quite exciting seeing the fleet coming much closer together than before. I'm pretty happy with my progress this week. There's lots to take away and work on over the next couple of months before we get to the world championships [in Aarhus, Denmark in July]."
Also impressing in Palma was young windfoiler Aimee Bright, who racked up eight top-10 placings in 19 races to narrowly miss out on a medal series spot with her 14th-place finish, while Stella Bilger came 22nd among the 67 competitors.
Josh Armit, meanwhile, bowed out at the semifinal stage of the men’s iQFOiL event overnight. Like Ten Have, Armit finished the Qualifying Rounds in third, but a fourth in the semifinal saw him eliminated, with the title eventually going to Australia’s Grae Morris.
Armit placed sixth overall, with countrymen Eli Liefting 42nd and Blake Hinsley 99th.
Three other Kiwis also competed in their respective medal races.
George Gautrey impressed with a fourth in the double-points ILCA 7 decider, ending the regatta in eighth overall after qualifying ninth. It was the Wellingtonian’s first international competition back in the men’s dinghy class in over a year - the former world championship bronze medallist took an extended break from the boat after being pipped for Olympic selection by Tom Saunders last year.
"It was by no means an easy week," Gautrey said. "I spent a lot of it going, 'Oh yeah, I remember that,' and feeling like it was an uphill battle."
Like many of the sailors in Palma, Gautrey will next be on the start line at the French Olympic Week in Hyères in a fortnight.
"I was just trying to get back into the swing of things and not be too harsh on myself. No one comes to these things to finish eighth, but I'm happy with how I worked with coach Mark [Howard] and the rest of the team, and I'm looking forward to Hyères and then the worlds [in Qingdao, China in May]."
Elsewhere, Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush wrapped up their regatta with a ninth place in the 49er medal race.
The duo also finished ninth overall - the best result of their career in the class. They were the top-placed of four Kiwi crews, in the absence of Marseille silver medallists Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie.
"We are happy with how we sailed this week. It’s a career-best for us, which is always positive," Menzies said.
"It’s been cool to see the progress from the work we've put in as a 49er squad over the summer. For Palma and Hyères, we're trying to learn as much as possible over the month."
Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren (29th), Sam Bacon and Blake McGlashan (33rd), and Will Shapland and Campbell Stanton (82nd) also competed alongside Menzies and Rush.
The regatta ended 24 hours earlier for a handful of other Kiwi sailors.
Greta Pilkington finished 22nd in the ILCA 6 after breaking into the top 10 on Day 2, while Caleb Armit was 61st in the 174-boat ILCA 7 fleet.
Lukas Walton-Keim’s 16th was the highest of three New Zealanders in the kitefoil competition, with Lochy Naismith 34th and Lucy Bilger 20th in the women’s event.
For full results: trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall