Duncan Monaghan finished fourth in the men’s competition at the 2026 iQFOiL U23 World Championships after progressing from the semi-finals into the decisive stages on Poland’s Bay of Puck.
The British sailor had entered the medal series third in the qualification standings, behind Italy’s Federico Alan Pilloni and Leonardo Tomasini. Those two sailors were seeded directly into the four-board final under the event’s format, while Monaghan had to come through the semi-final route.
Tomasini ultimately took the title, winning the first two races of the Slalom final to secure the two match points required for victory. Pilloni, his Italian team-mate, finished with silver, while Poland’s Stanisław Trepczyński claimed bronze. Monaghan was fourth after his push through the medal series.
Monaghan started medal racing in third
The standings at the conclusion of qualification had placed Pilloni first, Tomasini second and Monaghan third. That position put Monaghan in the semi-final rather than granting him direct passage to the final, but it still placed him among the leading contenders after the earlier racing.
Trepczyński was fourth in the qualification standings, directly behind Monaghan, before taking bronze in the final results. France’s Côme Joly was fifth and Spain’s Bernat Tomas sixth in the pre-medal-series top 10.
The men’s medal-series field consisted of the top 10 from qualification. Sailors ranked sixth to 10th first contested a quarter-final. The top two from that round moved on to race alongside the sailors ranked third, fourth and fifth in the semi-final.
The best two boards in that semi-final then joined the top two qualifiers in the final. As the event report explained, the final featured four boards and continued until one competitor had collected two match points. That structure made the leading qualification positions significant, as Pilloni and Tomasini began the final with the advantage of avoiding the earlier elimination rounds.
Third in qualification, Monaghan entered at the semi-final stage and ultimately finished fourth in a field in which Tomasini and Pilloni had occupied the leading positions from the opening stages.
Tomasini overturns Pilloni’s qualification advantage
Pilloni had completed qualification in first place and Tomasini in second, but Tomasini prevailed when the championship moved into the Slalom final. The Italian won the opening two final races, ending the contest without a need for further races.
Pilloni’s final-race sequence was recorded as fourth and second, which left him with the silver medal. Trepczyński took third place and the bronze medal on home waters, while Monaghan followed in fourth.
The outcome meant that Tomasini converted a week near the top of the leaderboard into the under-23 world title. For Monaghan, the result reflected a competitive route through a format in which the third-placed qualifier needed to race before reaching the four-board decider.
Bright wins women’s title
New Zealand’s Aimee Bright won the women’s iQFOiL U23 World Championship. Bright and Norway’s Maya Gysler had been the two sailors seeded directly into the women’s final after qualification.
Bright had completed qualification first in the women’s standings, with Gysler second. Norway’s Tuva Oppedal was third, Australia’s Stella Bilger fourth and Italy’s Carola Colasanto fifth before the medal series.
Bright then won two final races to take the championship. Gysler secured silver after finishes of third and second in the final, while Australia’s Stella Bilger collected bronze. Germany’s Sophia Meyer placed fourth.
The men’s and women’s results concluded a championship decided through the same medal-series system. Sailors ranked sixth to 10th raced the quarter-final, whose top two joined the third-, fourth- and fifth-ranked sailors in the semi-final; the top two there joined the top two qualifiers in the final.