Foiling Week Pensacola reaches halfway mark as USA's Given wins Kite Foil Regatta
by Foiling Week 28 Feb 09:56 PST
February 24 - March 2, 2025
Foiling Week Pensacola 2025 © Gianluca Di Fazio / We Are Foiling Media
The kitefoil regatta officially hit the books as the first regatta of Foiling Week Pensacola and was joined by a host of other special events to complete an impressive opening program for the inaugural week of festivities.
"To be here seeing this all come to life as we planned is just incredible," said Tim Ryschon, President of Sail Pensacola. "I sent a simple message to start the relationship and we were off to the races to bring the world of foiling to Pensacola. There's so much opportunity here and we are excited by the home we can build for sailors and foilers, not just at an annual event like Foiling Week but beyond to make the city the epicenter of the American foiling industry."
After three days of racing, Leif Given took the win in the kitefoil fleet, followed by Evan Noon in second place and Liana Raggio rounding out the podium in third. "This was a great event to kick off my 2028 Olympic campaign for Los Angeles," said Given, winner of the Inaugural Foiling Week Formula Kite regatta. "I'm thrilled to take home the win and bring this energy into my training."
Outside of racing, Foiling Week participants took a tour of the American Magic base where a new commissioned foiling catamaran built by Persico was unveiled to the group by American Magic's Terry Hutchinson and Persico's Mark Somerville. Following the tour, foiling industry professionals gathered at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition for the first ever United States Foiling Business Forum to discuss the future of the foiling industry and explore new economic development opportunities for the city of Pensacola.
Engaging with the local community, Foiling Week welcomed students from Dixon School of the Arts & Sciences through the Satori Foundation at Pensacola Yacht Club for a morning of foiling boat tours, environmental education, and an introduction to how sailing works on Wednesday. Thursday morning, Special Olympics Florida athletes gathered on the beach off of the Hilton Hotel for a morning of Surf Therapy before taking rides on a foiling pontoon boat to experience the feeling of foiling themselves.
In the racing category, the wait is over for foiling boat competitors who have been practicing all week in preparation for their race days Thursday through Sunday. On day four of Foiling Week, Pensacola Bay was taken over by Waszps, Moths, iFly 15s, Nacra 15 FCS, A-Class catamarans, and BirdyFish across two race areas, all competing for titles in their respective divisions. VIP Cruises will run Saturday and Sunday offering prime spectating as part of the Race Village activities with tickets available for purchase here.
Also taking the field on Thursday were athletes in the foil flex division, inclusive of WingFoil racing, a downwind foiling race, Pump/Wake competitions, and the new Foil Surf Racing League with competition taking place Saturday and Sunday off the beach of the Hilton Hotel. Spectators are encouraged to come to the beach for epic viewing opportunities as athletes compete with a unique, high energy running start.
March 1-2, Foiling Week will host the first ever Race Village out of Community Maritime Park, open from 10am to 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday. The public is invited to engage with local Palafox Market vendors, food and drink trucks, live music, race commentary, activities, browse merchandising, and more.
Now at the halfway point, there's still lots of racing and activities ahead for the first ever Foiling Week Pensacola. Head to foilingweek.com for the full schedule and complete details and follow the action at @foilingweek on social media.