Day Two at Dutch Water Week: International stars shine in tense Sailing Grand Slam battles

In the iQFOiL men, Johan Søe (DEN) leads the standings after Day Two, with Spain’s Nacho Baltasar Summers close behind and Olympic Champion Kiran Badloe (NED) in third. France’s Louis Pignolet (FRA) and Joost Vink (NED) are also well-placed as the field heads toward the final qualifiers.

The ILCA 6 (women’s dinghy) is equally tight at the top. Eve McMahon (IRL) holds the lead after Day Two, ahead of the Netherlands’ Maxime Jonker and Canada’s Clara Gravely, with Norway’s Line Flem Høst and Poland’s Agata Barwinska right in the mix.

“Today was a good day. I had a bit of a rough start yesterday, but I managed to find the switch and really put it all out on the racecourse, so I’m happy with that. The conditions were tough – lots of wind, more showers, very shifty – so it was tricky racing and hard work. But I’m pleased with the result and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Testing new formats

As this is the very first Sailing Grand Slam Pilot Final, the event is also a live testing ground for new race formats and scoring systems. Different fleets are trialling different approaches: the men’s ILCA 7 class is sailing under a high-points system where only top three finishes score, while the women’s ILCA 6 fleet uses a traditional low-points format.

In addition, all fleets are racing on the experimental Course X, where both the start and finish are mid-course — an America’s Cup–inspired layout designed to keep the fleet compact and the action visible, with frequent mark-roundings and short, high-intensity legs.

With one more day of qualifying left at Marina Muiderzand, the focus will soon shift inland. On Saturday the racing moves to Almere’s city-centre Weerwater lake, before Sunday’s decisive Sailing Grand Slam Pilot Final. There, short and high-intensity races will determine the very first champions.

• Full iQFOiL Men results (Format B – High Points Scoring, only top 3 score) after Day 2 are available here.
• Full ILCA 6 Women results (Format A – Low Points) after Day 2 are available here.
• Full ILCA 7 Men results (Format B – High Points) after Day 2 are available here.