FOILING SPORT CONGRESS 2026
PROGRAMME
July 1st and 2nd, 2026
Malcesine, Lake Garda – Italy
July 1st
Day one
Luca Rizzotti, Founder – The Foiling Organization
The global foiling calendar is shaped by decisions made in isolation — events lock dates, classes confirm championships, circuits announce seasons, and the overlaps emerge after the fact. This panel asks whether a shared planning window is possible: a structured early-engagement process where the major stakeholders coordinate upstream, before athlete pools are split and commercial conflicts become public. What would it take, who would need to commit, and what role can a neutral hub play when the parties around the table have competing interests?
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Jervis Tilley, President – Waszp International Class Association (WICA)
Tom Hartman, Tour Manager – SFT
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Jana Germani, Strategist – Redbull Italy SailGP
Ryan Littlechild, Sailor, North Sails Representative
Francesco Di Biase, Executive Advisor – DHTA
Foiling offers more racing formats than any comparable water sport. This panel asks whether that diversity is an asset or a liability — and whether the sport needs a flagship format to be legible to broadcasters, sponsors, and new audiences. A strategic conversation about what competitive foiling looks like to someone encountering it for the first time.
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Tim Hancock, Olympic Vision Project Lead – World Sailing
Michele Marchesini, RD – FIV
Ole Sartori, Executive and Finance Manager – AC Team Germany
What does a foiling ecosystem give back to the places it inhabits? Malcesine and Pensacola as working examples of the destination co-investment model — what each city and region gains in media exposure, tourism, and long-term positioning. Alongside: para foiling pathways, junior access infrastructure, and what genuine inclusivity requires in a technically demanding and expensive sport.
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Alan McMillan, Past Commodore – Gulf Yachting Association
Colin Ralph, Director of Operations – Amaala Yacht Club
Tom Herbert-Evans, Head Of Community – SailGP
Italy is living a golden moment in foiling: Olympic gold, a leading America’s Cup challenger, a SailGP team, and Ferrari Hypersail bringing industrial ambition to the sport. This panel gathers the protagonists behind that rise to ask what is really driving it, and what it would take to turn a golden moment into a lasting place at the front of world foiling.
Luca Rizzotti, Founder – The Foiling Organization
Ambrogio Beccaria, Skipper – Allagrande Mapei Racing
Francesca Clapcich, Skipper – 11th Hour Racing
Jana Germani, Strategist – Red Bull Italy SailGP
Enrico Voltolini, Project Leader – Ferrari Hypersail
Francesco Pretagostini, Control System and Energy Manager – Ferrari Hypersail
Daniele Savoldi, Technical Project Leader – Persico Marine
Foiling produces exceptional visual content that reaches a fraction of comparable action sport audiences. The panel names why — fragmented rights, no shared narrative, platform strategy gaps — and formally introduces the Foiling Media Congress: a dedicated annual gathering of media professionals, rights holders, and content creators across the foiling ecosystem.
Viola Devoti, Marketing Executive – America's Cup & Social Media Manager – We Are Foiling
Ed Russo, Director – SOF Hyères
Andy Rice, Writer and Podcaster – The Foil, The Athletic, New York Times
Richard Moore, Head of Media & Communications
July 2nd
Day 2
Elite foiling knowledge is siloed by class and circuit, rarely transferred across disciplines, and almost never institutionalized. The panel asks what a shared coaching framework would look like — certification, cross-discipline methodology, structured knowledge exchange — and puts top coaches in the room with a direct question: what do you know that the rest of the sport needs?
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Ray Davies, Coach – Emirates Team New Zealand
Giulia Conti, Head of Performance – We Are Foiling
Doug Wake, Marketing and Events Director – Vakaros
What does a brand or institutional partner actually evaluate when considering foiling? This panel gives the floor to the buyer — reach, image, innovation narrative, data access — and makes room for uncomfortable answers, including from partners who have considered foiling investments and decided against them.
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Adriano Guido Lualdi, Head of Global Brand Experience & Partnerships – Alfa Romeo
Julian Jesson, North Shore Risk Limited Representative
Scott Over, Commercial Director – We Are Foiling
Foiling spans Olympic classes, professional circuits, recreational categories, offshore, and human-powered disciplines — each answering to different bodies or none. The panel examines the cost of that fragmentation in athlete welfare, commercial credibility, and institutional voice, and asks what a shared governance architecture would need to look like to earn the trust of those already governing their own corners of the sport.
Greta Eline Poclen, Head of Science – The Foiling Organization
Jorgen Vogt, CEO / Secretary General – SFT and GFA
Chris Museler, Freelance Journalist, Foiling Expert
Scott Over, Commercial Director – We Are Foiling