Maciek Rutkowski the only Pole at the IFCA World Championships
From Wednesday, April 22, nearly 170 windsurfers from 20 countries will begin competing in the IFCA World Championships in Leucate on the southern coast of France. The only Polish representative at the event will be Maciek Rutkowski. Slalom competitors will race through Saturday, April 26, across multiple categories - from juniors and youth to seniors and masters - within both men’s and women’s fleets.
worldwide competitive sailing news sailing21 april 2026 | 15:02 | Source: Gazeta Morska | Prepared by: Maciej Frąckiewicz | Print
Maciej Rutkowski cztery ostatnie sezony kończył sezon na podium PWA World Tour. Fot. pwaworldtour.com
In the coming days, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea will be filled with windsurf boards and sails. The старт list currently includes 170 competitors, with 39 women and 131 men. Among them is 34-year-old Maciek Rutkowski from Poland, who in 2025 finished third overall in Foil Slalom and fourth in Slalom X in the PWA World Tour. In addition, in September last year he set a Guinness World Record, covering 227.5 km from Sweden to Poland on a foil board in 8 hours and 28 minutes.
Last year’s slalom world champion was Denmark’s Johan Soe, with Dutch rider Sem Stroosma taking silver and France’s Benoit Merceur finishing third. The defending champion will not compete this year, but the remaining medalists will have the opportunity to repeat or improve on their performances.
In the women’s competition in 2025, Dutch rider Femke van der Veen claimed victory, followed by Zaynep Hacudi of Turkey in second place and her compatriot Elif Ercan in third. Only the Dutch champion will compete in this year’s event.
The regatta will run until Saturday, April 26. The first старт signal on Wednesday is scheduled for 10:00.
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Maciej Frąckiewicz
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