France’s Lauriane Nolot and Singapore’s Max Maeder won the women’s and men’s kiteboarding (Formula Kite) and Italy’s Marta Maggetti and Australia’s Grae Morris the women’s and men’s windsurfing titles (iQFOiL) as the first four medals of the 57th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères – TPM, the second event of the Sailing Grand Slam series.
The iQFOiL and Formula Kite finals format are below*.
Kite Queen and King!
Lauriane Nolot and Max Maeder were heavy favourites entering finals day and duly delivered in 8-10 knots of breeze in the winner-takes-all final race. After a short delay in the morning the south-westerly sea breeze began to fill in, they launched from the beach in Salins, north of the Hyères sailing area and the racing began. And Hyères experience counted because there were some disturbances caused by the Île de Porquerolles and Giens peninsula as the wind turned from SE to SW.
Nolot, from down the road in Toulon but raised on the the wind alongside her father and brother, boarding in Hyères, is a local favourite. Maeder, the flying teenager, has been an adopted local since winning here as a beaming 15-year-old.
Nolot and Maeder have ruled the waves, the chop, the light, the big easterlies and finally the steady sea breeze in Hyères this week. In truly a test of their - and all 10 classes - all-round skills they have dominated from the front or always found a way to pass when they needed.
Women
🏅1st - Lauriane Nolot (FRA)
🥈2nd - Catalina Turienzo (ARG)
🥉3rd - Lysa Caval (FRA)
As she had all week, Nolot dominated from the front, timing her charge to start line perfectly to lead all the way round the course, putting clear water between herself and the rest and winning the 7-minute race by close to 4 seconds. Argentina’s Catalina Turienzo had to hold off France Lysa Caval, who took bronze, reversing the semi-final, where she finished second to China’s Si Wang.
For Nolot, France’s 27-year-old double world champion (including the Hyères 2024 World Championships) and silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it was her second Hyères title after winning in 2023. It also follows her victory in Palma at the beginning of April, meaning she has won the first two Sailing Grand Slam events this season.
Lauriane Nolot (FRA)
“I won for France, in France! I couldn't be happier. All the hard work this winter is paying off. After the victory in Palma, and now la Semaine Olympique, I feel super ready for the World Championships. I really wanted this win, and there it is, it's done, it's official. There were so many signs this week that made me feel amazing - even the name of the committee boat, which was called Athos, a reference to my little flight with the Patrouille de France last week (“Athos” is the radio callsign/name used by the Patrouille de France, military aerobatic aircraft and pilots). These have been two dream weeks for me, and I hope it's not over and that we'll continue this winning streak all the way to the World Championships.”
Men
🏅1st - Max Maeder (SGP)
🥈2nd - Riccardo Pianosi (ITA)
🥉3rd - Qibin Huang (CHN)
For the 19-year-old Singaporean, Max Maeder, also a double world champion (also winning his second world title at the 2024 World Championships in Hyères), and bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, this was also his second Hyères title after winning in 2022. And again mirroring Nolot, he won in Palma at the beginning of April.
Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi, the SOF 2025 champion and second to Maeder in Palma, took silver after being his most consistent challenger all week. China’s Qibin Huang took bronze from Switzerland’s Gian Stragiotti, who had beaten him in the semi-final but finished fourth and last in the final.
Max Maeder (SGP)
"I don’t describe my feeling yet! Of course it’s great, you can see the smile on my face! I had a great time racing, and I admit it, it’s because it went well! You can’t blame me for having fun! Everyone’s improving, you have to stay on top of your game, they’re so sharp, so good. It’s a tough game. It was Riccardo last year and my turn this year. I enjoyed the diversity of conditions (in Hyères) we had every condition possible and it tested yours skills as a sailor, so I think this a great regatta."
iQFOiL (men’s & women’s windsurfing)*
If the kiteboarding finals went to form, the iQFOiL finals saw more drama in both the women’s and men’s event.
Women
🏅1st - Marta Maggetti (ITA)
🥈2nd - Tamar Steinberg (ISR)
🥉3rd - Zheng Yan (CHN)
Italy’s Olympic champion, Marta Maggetti, 30, had jumped into second on Thursday and won the final to beat Israel’s Tamar Steinberg, who had been going for a Hyères three-peat. Maggetti reversed the result from Palma, where she had finished second to Steinberg.
Steinberg, the Palma champion and SOF 2024 & 2025 champion, had led the leaderboard all week but could only finish fourth in the final. She took silver because she entered the final with a point over the semi-final qualifiers. China’s Zheng Yan beat New Zealand’s Stella Bilger to take bronze.
Marta Maggetti (ITA)
“It was a crazy one, I wasn’t planning to fight like this with Tamara. We were all stressed, I gave a penalty to her because you want to push in the last one and it’s part of the job. I’m happy that I kept focused because I wasn’t in a good position at the start. Super happy about the week, there were two light wind days on the first and second days and then it was strong so we sailed with everything. Really glad to be here, it’s a great spot!”
Men
🏅1st - Grae Morris (AUS)
🥈2nd - Federico Alan Pilloni (ITA)
🥉3rd - Kun Bi (CHN)
Australia’s Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist, Grae Morris won the hardest way of all after both he and China’s 2025 SOF champion, Kun Bi messed up the start. Seeing that Bi was not going to win, he decided not to finish and conserve energy for the second race. Italy’s Federico Alan Pilloni went on to win.
Morris, who finished 12th in Palma, then won the second race and Pilloni won his battle with Bi, to win silver with Bi taking bronze.
Grae Morris (AUS)
“It was an awesome day today, the wind filled in quite nicely. In my first attempt at the finals I was over along with Kun Bi and so we had to start five seconds late. I tried my best to catch up but couldn’t quite make it, so got a bit of rest. For the second attempt, Nicolo Renna and I had a battle for the first place and I just managed to take it away. Overall, super fun racing, super tight.”