Left In training, Alice will head out on the water six
days a week. Below With Kate Fortnam of The Green Blue – Alice is an ocean scientist.
Q&A Flying on a board
We meet iQFOiL rider Alice Read, who supported Olympic bronze medal-winner Emma Wilson and now has her eyes on LA 2028
A
fter being introduced to the sport by her father, Alice learned to windsurf on an Oxfordshire reservoir,
eventually competing in youth events. She then moved to Portland in order to train with the British Sailing Squad, and started learning iQFOiL in 2020.
What’s special about iQFOiL? It’s using a hydrofoil instead of a fin and kind of works like an aeroplane: you generate forward motion and lift in the water so it basically looks like your board is flying. We go a lot quicker than windsurfers – women push maybe 27 or 28 knots and men 32 or 33 knots. It’s good fun! For me, it’s a moment to be free and with nature. You’re relying on the elements. It’s such a great feeling to be outdoors working with the wind.
What are you working towards at the moment? My goal is the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles – the work has already begun! But we have events every year to work towards; I think it’s important not to have just one end goal as anything can happen in this sport.
Can you describe a training session? We have lots of things to work on. We’re always trying to go as fast as we can – upwind and downwind – adjusting equipment to make us go faster. We work on racing and also do sessions just on manoeuvres, jibes and tacks. Getting better at that is important with a fast sport – if you mess up it’s pretty dangerous. In the winter we train in Lanzarote. It’s an incredible destination – warm and windy. After every session, wherever we are, we wash down
our gear using the check, clean, dry Green Blue method. I don’t want anything on my gear coming with me when I move from place to place. I studied ocean science so am aware of the damage invasive species can do.
Why should people try ˜˗˦˨˥Ѓ˚ʲ I understand that it’s still a little bit of a niche sport but windsurfing is just so freeing. You know, it’s you on your own in the water and you can blast as fast as you can, going great distances and seeing new things. It’s a dynamic, changing environment and I really like that because you have the challenge of something different every day. Windsurfing does take some time to learn but I’d advise people to stick with it as it’s so worthwhile.
Follow Alice’s progress on Instagram @
alice.read
rya.org.uk WINTER 2024 19
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