The global foiling sector is gathering in Genoa, Italy, today (17 March 2026) for the third edition of the World Foiling Congress. The annual two-day event highlights the latest technology and regulatory developments in the foiling sector and celebrates its recent successes.
The World Foiling Congress 2026 is taking place at the Magazzini del Cotone in Genoa and is sponsored by Ropner Insurance.
The event is organised by The Foiling Organization, the global association of the foiling industry, which established its headquarters in Genoa in 2024.
The 2026 edition features 10 panel sessions and more than 30 speakers representing industry, engineering and design disciplines, research institutions and regulatory bodies.
The opening session, “Gitana 18: A New Era in Offshore Sailing”, is being presented by Charles Caudrelier, winner of the 2022 Route du Rhum. In that race, he set a record time of 6 days, 19 hours, 47 minutes and 25 seconds while sailing the foiling Ultim trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 17). Caudrelier is joined by Pierre Tissier, technical director of the Gitana Team, to explore design developments in the next generation of offshore foiling yachts.
Foiling Awards IX
Gitana 18 is also listed among the nominees in the One-Off Sailing or Powered Yacht category at the Foiling Awards IX. The awards ceremony will take place this evening (March 17), when congress delegates, nominees, partners, journalists and invited guests will attend the Foiling Awards IX event recognising projects and individuals involved in foiling development.
The awards programme includes 13 categories, as well as the Forlanini Award, presented to the overall winner, selected from the category winners.
The 2026 edition also introduces a new distinction, the Future Impact Award. This award will be assigned by an international panel of marine journalists. It will recognise one of the 104 shortlisted projects in the IX edition that indicates potential future developments in foiling, including projects, individuals, events or technologies considered likely to influence the sector in the coming years.
The World Foiling Congress brings together participants from leisure, sport, commercial and naval foiling applications. The programme aims to facilitate discussion between engineers, regulators and other industry stakeholders involved in the development of hydrofoil technology.
Recent growth of the foiling sector
After the Foiling Awards in 2023, METSTRADE confirmed a partnership with The Foiling Organization to bring a new Foiling Technology Pavilion (FTP) to the trade show in Amsterdam.
In 2024, organisers of boot Düsseldorf joined forces with The Foiling Organization to create Foiling World – an area dedicated to foiling technologies, infrastructure, products and services, which launched at boot 2025.
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