The world’s top foiling sailors will converge on Lake Garda this summer as two major sailing organisations join forces to reshape how the sport connects its athletes and audiences. The Sailing Grand Slam series and Foiling Week, the annual festival that draws competitors across Moth, WASZP, BirdyFish, Switch One Design, ETF26 and kitefoiling classes, have announced a strategic partnership designed to break down the silos that have traditionally kept Olympic sailing, professional circuits and specialist foiling communities separate.
The collaboration begins immediately at Foiling Week Malcesine from 27 June to 5 July, with co-branded initiatives running through the remaining Sailing Grand Slam events. Both organisations plan to extend the partnership to Foiling Week Pensacola in 2027 and subsequent editions, plus shared foiling demonstrations at Sailing Grand Slam venues. The agreement also opens the door to broader experiences that connect these two worlds.
“The future of our sport is not defined by isolated classes or disciplines, but by stronger connections across the entire performance ecosystem,” said Ed Russo, Sailing Grand Slam Director and Event Director of Semaine Olympique de Hyères. That philosophy reflects a practical reality: many athletes already compete across both circuits, yet their audiences often remain separate. By combining storytelling, athlete content and digital engagement, the partnership aims to introduce Sailing Grand Slam spectators to foiling while bringing Foiling Week followers into the Olympic and professional sailing landscape.
The timing reflects significant shifts in how high-performance sailing works. Sailing Grand Slam and Olympic Class Championships now serve as launching pads for emerging talent destined for SailGP, America’s Cup campaigns and professional windfoiling circuits. Athletes, boat designs and spectator interest flow between these environments with increasing frequency, yet the events and organisations that develop them haven’t always communicated effectively.
“Foiling has gone global,” said Luca Rizzotti, founder of the We Are Foiling ecosystem and Foiling Week. “From Malcesine to Pensacola, Foiling Week is where the disciplines meet: Olympic athletes, SailGP and America’s Cup professionals, classes, builders, all in one place. Joining forces with the Sailing Grand Slam means more athletes and more fans get to see the full picture of where foiling is going.”
For New Zealand sailors and enthusiasts watching international competition develop, this partnership signals something important. The separation between Olympic pathways, professional racing and specialist foiling has always been somewhat arbitrary, a legacy of how these sports developed rather than any fundamental incompatibility. By acknowledging that athletes, technologies and audiences naturally move between disciplines, both organisations are building infrastructure that reflects how modern high-performance sailing actually works. What begins at Lake Garda this summer will likely influence how these circuits operate globally, including opportunities in the Southern Hemisphere as Foiling Week expands.
