Dutch Water Week 2025 kicks off in Almere with Sailing Grand Slam debut

A pilot with top international competitors

The Sailing Grand Slam (SGS) links five of the world’s most prestigious Olympic-class international regattas. The Almere event serves as the very first ‘pilot final’, testing a new compact format designed to be fast, fair, and easy to follow.

The top five athletes per class from the SGS ranking were invited. In addition, each international class association nominated three sailors, while the Dutch organisers held two wildcards per discipline. The result: small but very strong fleets, with local favourites competing alongside global champions.

Classes and participants

Four of the ten Olympic disciplines are on show:

• ILCA 6 (women’s dinghy) – including Maxime van de Werken (NED), reigning U21 World Champion Roos Wind (NED), Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Line Flem Høst (NOR), Agata Barwinska (POL) and Irish talent Eve McMahon.

• ILCA 7 (men’s dinghy) – with strong entries from the Netherlands, Ireland and Great Britain, including World Champion Willem Wiersema (NED), Duko Bos (NED) and European Champion 2021 Michael Beckett (GBR).

• iQFOiL men (windsurfing) – featuring triple World Champion and Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Kiran Badloe (NED), up against France’s Tom Arnoux, Louis Pignolet and Clément Bourgeois, plus Spain’s Nacho Baltasar Summers.

• 49er (skiff) – ten Dutch top teams will join only in at the weekend, led by three-time World Champions Bart Lambriex & Floris van de Werken.

Day one – racing in autumn conditions

The first day delivered exactly what Dutch September is known for: good racing, gusty winds, passing showers, and grey skies. From Marina Muiderzand, the ILCA 6, ILCA 7 and iQFOiL Men completed their opening series in challenging but exciting conditions. With just ten entries per class, every top three position counts and the margins are razor-thin.

Voices from the water

• Michael Beckett (GBR, ILCA 7) – leading after three races:
  “There are only ten of us here, so the margins are incredibly small. I managed to win the first two races, which is a nice start. With this new scoring system we are testing (rewarding only high points to numbers 1,2,3 in ILCA7 class ed.) there’s no difference between finishing fourth or tenth. That means as soon as you drop outside the top three, you have to take big risks to get back in.”
  “Olympic sailing is clearly heading into a period of major change, with new racing formats being tested on a tight schedule. That will have a huge impact on sailors like me – how we train, how we race, and what it takes to be the best. Since this is the very first attempt at trying out those formats, I’m glad to be here at the Dutch Water Week to experience it first-hand.”

• Nacho Baltasar Summers (ESP, iQFOiL men) – leads after five races:
  “Was a really nice day on the water with nice and easy breeze. It is cool to try and race in such a small but strong fleet with the new format where only top 3 take points. Also nice to try a new course. Looking forward to the rest of the days.”

• Kiran Badloe (NED, iQFOiL men):
  “We just got back. We’re here at the Dutch Water Week. We managed to finish our first day of the iQFOiL racing. We finished five races in quite a rapid pace, so we’re happy. The weather is not playing ball, but we’re having good fun, and it’s quite nice out there. Tune in for tomorrow, and we’ll be back with some more action.”

• Full iQFOiL Men results (High Points Scoring – top 3 only) are available here.
• Full ILCA 6 results (Low Points Scoring) are available here.
• Full ILCA 7 results (High Points Scoring – top 3 only) are available here.