Polish superstar wins 2026 PredictWind Wingfoiling Nationals at Worser Bay
by Melanie Parkin 18 Mar 05:15 GMT
Kamil Manowiecki (POL) - Day 2 - PredictWind WingFoil Nationals - Worser Bay - March 14, 2026 © Mel Parkin - Widelens photography
That’s a wrap for the 2026 PredictWind Wingfoiling Nationals at Worser Bay Boating Club in Wellington, New Zealand.
But before the sand fully dries in the wetsuits, let’s rewind it.
First, the scene.
Unless you’ve sailed at Worser Bay in Wellington, it’s hard to picture how sailing is run. Racing happens right off the beach. The club sits above the water like a natural grandstand, with spectators leaning over the rail, clutching coffee while riders and sailors alike blast to the finish line just metres away.
For this event — even more so.
Part regatta.
Part amphitheatre.
The result feels suspiciously like a miniature SailGP — just with more hoodies, more caffeine, and the occasional philosophical debate about what actually counts as crossing the finish line.
The body?
The board?
The wing?
Often, it was some creative combination of all three.
For a small club quietly clocking up 100 years of sailing, hosting the 2026 PredictWind Wingfoiling Nationals proved again that Worser Bay punches well above its weight.
Day 2 – Order Restored.
Day 2 arrived with a classic Wellington reset: cooler air and a fresh southerly pushing up the harbour.
After the gentle chaos of Day 1, the Race Officer opened the morning briefing with a few reminders about the rules… and one small detail.
The day would start under black flag rule.
Normally, that announcement draws colourful commentary from sailors. Instead: silence. Which suggested the fleet had collectively decided the Race Committee might actually be serious.
As the riders pushed off the beach, they were greeted by 18 knots of southerly paired with wind against tide, a combination Wellington delivers with confidence and locals simply call that messy bit in the channel.
Across the day, the Gold, Silver and Masters fleets completed around five races, while the Social fleet launched their Nationals campaign with three back-to-back slalom races.
And don’t be fooled by the word social.
Yes, some riders were new and had modest ambitions like “getting over the start line”. One even said he’d happily accept a black flag, refreshingly honest goal-setting.
But others, including Woo Norris and Mitchell Hunt, looked entirely comfortable at the sharper end of the fleet.
As the breeze settled, so did the racing. Starts tightened, tactics sharpened, and the results began to show it.
In the Gold Fleet, consistency created separation at the top, while the chasing pack spent the day trading punches race after race.
The Women Are Sending It
One thing that didn’t go unnoticed: the women in the fleet were sending it.
Across the age range, female riders were delivering serious pace and holding their own across the course. The fastest woman across the event was Laila Opanubi, consistently right in the mix across the fleet.
And here’s the thing about this sport: on the international wingfoiling circuit, women race the same courses, in the same conditions, for the same prize money as the men. I’ll leave that right there.
Saturday Night Stories From the Pros
Saturday night shifted from racing to storytelling inside the Worser Bay Boating Club, somewhere between classic sailing club and harbour-side postcard.
A panel of international riders held the room:
- Kamil Manowiecki
- Sean Herbert
- Kosta Gladiadis
- Jeremiah McDonald
Questions ranged from the chaos of port-starboard start lines to wing visibility and whether the rules have quite caught up with fleets travelling at these speeds.
These are the kinds of conversations that quietly shape a developing class.
Day 3 & Wellington forgets its job
Then came the final day.
Every forecast model was consulted repeatedly. Because surely a Wellington northerly doesn’t just… disappear? And yet the locals looked less convinced.
The fleet launched anyway, riders paddling and pumping their way out with wings ranging from 8m in the social fleet to 3m in a hopeful display of aerodynamic optimism.
The Gold Fleet squeezed away one race in light conditions.
Silver and Masters weren’t so lucky.
By the time the Social fleet reached the start boat, the Race Officer politely suggested paddling back to the beach. (Rumour has it one rider climbed aboard the committee boat and eventually tow-foiled home.)
Shortly after, the flags went up:
AP over A — racing abandoned for the day. Even Wellington occasionally takes a day off.
The Results
Congratulations to Kamil Manowiecki, who took out the Gold Fleet overall. As suspected earlier in the regatta, he didn’t travel all the way from Poland just to admire the scenery.
[S-W: A professional sailor, Kamil Manowiecki is currently one of the top sailors on the global Wingfoil Racing circuit. He was the Silver medallist at the 2024 Worlds, narrowly missing the overall title, and secured major World Cup victories in locations such as Sardinia and Brazil.]
Behind him a tight battle played out:
- Sean Herbert – 2nd Gold
- Kosta Gladiadis – 3rd Gold (and Youth Champion)
In the Silver Fleet, Cater Stringer secured the win, while Fynn Goat took out the Youth title.
In the Masters division, Chris Brodie claimed the overall title, with Cristiana Chiappini-Brodie finishing as first Masters female.
The Social Fleet (27 riders strong) produced some of the most entertaining racing of the event. Mitchell Hunt took the win on countback from Woo Norris, with Genevieve Hunt finishing as first female and an impressive 7th overall.
A Small Club, A Big Regatta
Running an event like this is no small task. Worser Bay Boating Club has built a reputation for delivering outstanding regattas powered by volunteers.
Small club.
Big effort.
This was the second-to-last national regatta of the season, and by every measure it delivered.
Wingfoiling might just be the most interesting thing happening in sailing right now. And if the energy on the beach in Wellington is anything to go by.
It’s not slowing down any time soon.
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)