Israeli windsurfer Shahar Reshef won a bronze medal Thursday at the European windsurfing championship in Marseille, France.

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For the first time, the competition included the IQFoil windsurfing class, a new model that will be used at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The women's national team is coached by Israeli windsurfer and Olympic bronze medalist Shahar Tzuberi and the men's team by windsurfer and Israel's first Olympic gold medalist Gal Fridman.

Reshef finished the competition with 18 points, just one less than British windsurfer Islay Watson who with 17 points pocketed a silver medal. France's Helene Noesmoen – who finished first in all three sales of the championship – won the gold.

With regard to the men's team, Tom Reuveny finished in seventh place, with French windsurfer Nicolas Goyard winning the gold.

"The surfing team has great talent and I am confident that the group will continue to achieve more," Shai Buber, head of the Israel Sailing Association said. "We work to win more medals in competitions and aim for one in every significant event."

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For the first time, Israel is hosting the PWA Windsurfing World Cup – but not in the Mediterranean, as might be expected. Instead, the competition is taking place at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.

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The five-day world cup event, which launched on Monday, features over 60 windsurfers from all over the world, including current and former world champions, and Israeli fans of the sport are expected to flock to HaDekel Beach to watch the final founds.

The PWA Windsurfing World Cup is considered the most prestigious event in the sport. Unlike Olympic windsurfing competition, professional windsurfing is an extreme sport that takes place in winds of up to 80 km/hr (50 miles/hr), with waves reaching heights of 10 meters (over 30 feet).

Events included in this year's World Cup include Men's Slalom, Women's Slalom, and Women's Foil.

On the first day of the competition, Nicolas Goyard took an early lead in the men's Slalom event in tricky wind conditions, the PWA website reported.

Sarah-Quita Offringa (four-time slalom world champion) overtook Marion Mortefon to win the slalom event on Monday.

As of Tuesday morning, the rankings after one elimination stood as follows:

Women:

Sarah Quita-Affringa (Aruba)

Marion Mortefon (France)

Delphine Cousin Questel (France)

Sarah Jackson (Britain)

Blanca Alabau (Spain)

Men:

Nicolas Goyard (France)

Enrico Marotti (Croatia)

Ingmar Daldorf (Netherlands)

Maciek Rutkowski (Poland)

Basile Jacquin (France)

Pierre Mortefon (France)

Alexandre Cousin (France)

Antoine Albeau (France)

Matteo Iachino (Italy)

Bruno Martini (Italy)

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