2026 iQFOiL European Championship, Day 5: New Zealand's Aimee Bright storms into Grand Final after gold-fleet comeback in Portimão

Aimee Bright overcame an early setback on the penultimate day of the iQFOiL European Championships in Portimão to move a major step closer to the biggest result of her burgeoning career.

The 20-year-old Manly Sailing Club windsurfer, the daughter of New Zealand Olympic legend Barbara Kendall, sits second overall heading into the final day — and the crucial medal series — after producing a superb comeback in the women’s fleet.

Bright began the day fifth overall but was forced to retire from the opening slalom race of the final qualifying session. She responded emphatically, however, winning the next race before finishing third in the final outing of the day to catapult herself into the silver-medal position and secure automatic progression to the Grand Final.

Israel’s Tamar Steinberg continues to lead the regatta after another composed day in difficult Atlantic conditions, with the overall leader also advancing directly to the winner-takes-all finale alongside Bright.

Under the iQFOiL medal series format, sailors ranked third through 10th must battle through quarterfinals and semifinals before joining the top two riders in the Grand Final showdown for the European title.

Aimee Bright has advanced to the Grand Final of the European Championships. Photos / Sailing Energy

Bright’s breakthrough performance headlined another encouraging day for the Kiwis in Portugal, despite Stella Bilger and Veerle ten Have narrowly missing out on places inside the top-10 medal-series cutoff.

Bilger finished 14th overall after posting scores of 11th, 19th and ninth on the final day of qualifying, while Paris 2024 Olympian ten Have ended 15th overall after producing a brilliant race win in the second gold-fleet race of the day.

In the men’s fleet, Eli Liefting also ended his regatta strongly, claiming a gold-fleet race win against some of the best windsurfers in the world before finishing an impressive 18th overall.

Stella Bilger just missed out on the top-10 and a place in the medal series. Photos / Sailing Energy

The 2026 iQFOiL European Championships have tested the fleet with a full range of racing formats and highly variable Atlantic conditions throughout the week, with both tactical course racing and high-speed sprint formats featuring heavily in Portimão.

The medal series will be broadcast live on the official iQFOiL YouTube channel. Click here to watch it live from 8pm NZ time.

Latest results and standings here.