iQFOiL

Tamar Steinberg and Luuc van Opzeeland Crowned 2026 iQFOiL World Champions in Weymouth

By Sailing Times Newsroom·12 September 2026·4 min read

Steinberg completes a dominant week while Van Opzeeland strikes in the decisive final as six days of racing conclude in Weymouth and Portland.

Weymouth, Great Britain, September 12, 2026. Tamar Steinberg of Israel and Luuc van Opzeeland of the Netherlands are the 2026 iQFOiL World Champions after a fast and decisive Medal Series on the final day of racing in Weymouth and Portland.

Grey skies and a strong breeze delivered classic Weymouth conditions for the top ten men and women in the championship finale. Racing started on schedule at noon, and the Quarter Finals opened a Medal Series in which every race carried the chance of advancement or elimination.

In the women’s Quarter Final, Sara Wennekes of the Netherlands won ahead of Israel’s Daniela Peleg, sending both sailors into the Semi Final. They joined Medea Falcioni of Italy, Stella Bilger of Australia and Veerle ten Have of New Zealand, who had already qualified for the next stage through their positions in the Qualification Series.

The women’s Semi Final ran smoothly. Bilger and Peleg took the two available places in the Grand Final, where they met Steinberg and fellow Israeli Sharon Kantor, both of whom carried a single match point from the Qualification Series.

Steinberg needed only one race. She had controlled the championship from the opening day, when she won four races in a row, and arrived at the Grand Final with a match point as winner of the Qualification Series. Kantor led at the first mark, but Steinberg pushed past her to win the first Final race and reach the two match points required for the title, becoming the 2026 iQFOiL Women’s World Champion. Kantor took the silver medal, and Bilger completed the podium with bronze.

The men’s Medal Series brought more drama. Tom Reuveny of Israel won the Quarter Final, and Federico Alan Pilloni of Italy took the second qualifying spot into the Semi Final, joining Denmark’s Johan Søe, France’s Nicolas Goyard and the Netherlands’ Kiran Badloe.

The first attempt at the men’s Semi Final had to be resailed after an error in the starting procedure. In the resail, Goyard and Søe advanced, while Reuveny, Badloe and Pilloni were eliminated.

They joined Qualification Series winner Noah Lyons of the United States and runner-up Van Opzeeland in the Grand Final. Both sailors entered with a single match point, meaning either could clinch the title with victory in the opening race. Van Opzeeland took that chance, winning the first Grand Final race to reach two match points and claim the 2026 iQFOiL Men’s World Championship. Lyons finished with silver after leading the standings through the closing stages of qualification, and Søe overtook Goyard in the final meters of the last reach to take bronze.

For both champions, the Weymouth victory completes a European and World Championship double for 2026. Steinberg and Van Opzeeland arrived in Great Britain as the reigning European Champions after winning in Portimão, and they leave Weymouth at the top of the iQFOiL world.

Final podiums: in the women’s fleet, Tamar Steinberg of Israel took gold, Sharon Kantor of Israel silver and Stella Bilger of Australia bronze. In the men’s fleet, Luuc van Opzeeland of the Netherlands took gold, Noah Lyons of the United States silver and Johan Søe of Denmark bronze.

The Medal Series closed six demanding days of competition at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, where 186 athletes from 41 nations faced nearly the full range of iQFOiL conditions, from light and unstable winds to strong westerlies and heavy chop. The championship tested speed, tactics, consistency and versatility across Upwind Sprint, Sprint Slalom and Course Racing before the titles were decided in Saturday’s finals.

Both champions had shown those qualities throughout the week, and it was Steinberg and Van Opzeeland who delivered the decisive race win when it mattered most, leaving Weymouth as the 2026 iQFOiL World Champions.