PredictWind Wing Foiling Nationals - "Too busy to be cold" - Worser Bay - Day 1

by Melanie Parkin 13 Mar 09:57 GMT

Day 1 began the way all good Wellington sailing stories begin: with sailors staring at the sky, refreshing PredictWind like it might personally apologise for the forecast, and clutching coffees from The Rolling Cub Coffee Company while contemplating the right time put wetsuits on.

The onshore vibe check was conducted in the usual highly scientific fashion, a good walk around the beach and rigging area, locals offering vague advice about what the wind might do, visiting riders politely nodding, and everyone quietly preparing for the inevitable: Wellington will do what it feels like doing.

Race 1 got away in about 12-15 knots. Respectable. Civilised, even. Gold, Silver and Masters fleets launched into it while the rain politely reminded everyone that this is still Wellington and that dry media coverage would not be happening today

Foiling starts are not like sailing starts, port starters are a thing, not something reserved for the sailor with the confidence of toddler in a batman suit, a timed run to the gun isn't for the faint hearted, riders and wings crossed at furious pace, but it was very quiet, no flapping of sails or slaps of waves on hulls, just the air passing around foils that looked like knives, and the riders who actually paid attention to the shifts smoked the middle of the beat. Down the course it was a blur of foils, spray and tactical decisions, particularly at the bottom gate where riders had to decide between the right mark... or the more right mark.... Or all the marks....

Meanwhile, the media team were busy trying to work out what the course actually was.

Before anyone could fully process what had happened, the race was done. Wing foiling does not do "lingering".

Race 2 rolled straight in, with the Race Officer deciding the beat needed a bit more room to breathe. The top mark was dragged a few hundred metres north, which in Wellington terms is basically relocating the course to a new suburb.

Then something deeply unnatural occurred.

The wind died.

In Wellington.

The RO didn't let the fleet wallow in displacement mode, the race was abandoned, most of the riders got the message, apart from one lonely guy, who did the entire beat on his own. Meanwhile as we were processing this meteorological betrayal. The rain returned briefly, as if to reassure everyone that at least some things were still normal. Eventually the breeze crept back in and racing resumed, Wellington doing its usual thing of delivering wind in slightly chaotic instalments.

It would be fair to say the sailors were happy to see breeze again.

It would also be fair to say they wouldn't mind a bit more of it.

From the shore, trying to follow wing foiling racing is... character building. Three fleets, two courses, and boats moving at what appears to be mildly illegal speeds. The media team spent most of the day second-guessing where they should put the boat next, our driver doing his best at both keeping the photographer dry-ish and predicting what the next good set of shots might be.

By the end of the day four races were completed. The first two counted double as longer races, the afternoon races were shorter and rapid-fire. Results are provisional, while a few redress conversations take place, at least here is where wingfoiling lines with sailing, results are always a little contentious until hearings are closed out.

In the Gold Fleet, twenty riders threw down some proper battles. Early results show Sean Herbert and Banjo Nicholson tied on points at the top, a rivalry that looks like it's going to keep everyone entertained. And don't forget Kamil Manowiecki, who hasn't travelled all the way from Poland just to politely observe.

The rest of the Gold fleet spreads out behind them.

In the Silver and Masters fleets, the leader has edged ahead by six points, but the chasing pack is tightly compressed. Notably, the first two women currently sit 3rd and 4th overall, which says a lot about the depth of racing out there.

Some riders are still learning the subtleties of the courses and Wellington's particular flavour of chaos, so expect the leaderboard to shuffle tomorrow.

Day 2 will bring a very different Wellington experience. The warm, gusty northerly and lumpy chop are expected to disappear, replaced by a southerly and flatter water. Our Australian visitors may discover that Wellington's idea of "refreshing" is someone else's idea of "character building", but as one young rider pointed out today:

"You don't really have time to get cold. Things are too busy."

And that's probably the best summary of wing foiling racing you'll hear all week.

At Worser Bay the club's heart is pumping salt. Sailing is our roots, but watching the next evolution of the sport tearing around the bay at full noise — well, we're more than happy to lean into the future.

Results link: results.wbbc.org.nz/2025-26/Wingfoil-Gold-Silver-Masters.html

(Thanks to our sponsors, Armstrong Foil, Axis, PPC Foiling, NZ Sailing.com and PredictWind, along side Little Sprig, WidelensPhotography, Interislander, Whitecloud Sports, Waterspeed, Swimsuit, Parrotdog and AQ Bags)