Two of sailing's most prominent foiling organisations have moved to dismantle the barriers that have long separated Olympic competition, professional racing and specialist foiling communities. The Sailing Grand Slam series and Foiling Week, the annual festival drawing competitors from the Moth, WASZP, BirdyFish, Switch One Design, ETF26 and kitefoiling classes, have announced a strategic collaboration designed to connect audiences, athletes and disciplines that have developed in parallel for too long.
The alliance begins immediately, with co-branded activity launching at Foiling Week Malcesine from 27 June to 5 July before continuing across the remainder of the Sailing Grand Slam calendar. Both organisations have committed to extending the partnership to Foiling Week Pensacola in 2027 and beyond, with shared foiling demonstrations planned at Sailing Grand Slam venues and a broader ambition to build experiences that genuinely bridge these two worlds.
Ed Russo, Sailing Grand Slam Director and Event Director of Semaine Olympique de Hyères, set out the purpose directly. "The future of our sport is not defined by isolated classes or disciplines, but by stronger connections across the entire performance ecosystem," he said. That view reflects a practical reality already playing out on the water. Many athletes already compete across both circuits, yet the audiences following them have largely remained separate. By combining storytelling, athlete content and digital engagement, the partnership aims to draw Sailing Grand Slam spectators into the foiling world while introducing Foiling Week followers to Olympic and professional sailing at its highest level.
The announcement comes at a moment of genuine shift in high-performance sailing. Sailing Grand Slam events and Olympic Class Championships have become increasingly important springboards for emerging talent heading towards SailGP, America's Cup campaigns and professional windfoiling circuits. Athletes, boat designs and spectator interest move fluidly between these environments, yet the organisations behind them have not always kept pace with that cross-pollination.
Luca Rizzotti, founder of the We Are Foiling ecosystem and Foiling Week, put it plainly. "Foiling has gone global," he said. "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 followers of international competition, this development carries real significance. The divisions between Olympic pathways, professional racing and specialist foiling have always been somewhat artificial, a product of how these branches of the sport evolved separately rather than any genuine incompatibility between them. Both organisations are now building infrastructure that reflects how modern high-performance sailing actually functions, acknowledging that athletes, technologies and audiences move naturally across all three environments. Whatever takes shape on Lake Garda this summer is likely to influence how these circuits operate on a global scale, including the prospect of expanded opportunities in the Southern Hemisphere as Foiling Week continues to grow.
