PredictWind Wingfoil Nationals – Day 3
Wingfoiling wins the day, Sean Herbert wins the title – again. PredictWind Wingfoiling NZ Champs a huge success.
This was only the third time that New Zealand has hosted a Wingfoiling National Championship, and all three years have been a massive success for the class. A total of 107 wingers competed at this event, held at Wakatere Boating Club and proudly supported by naming sponsor PredictWind.
The final day of racing left everyone wanting more, but the breeze died out during the day, prompting race officers on both the racing and social fleet courses to send the wingers back to the beach to relax or change gear.
But as forecasted, everything kicked back into gear at approximately 1430 hours, and the race was on.
Over the three-day regatta, 14 races were completed for the gold and silver racing fleets, while the social wingers, who raced over two days, completed seven races.
The inaugural winner of the New Zealand Wingfoiling Nationals was iQFoiler and Olympian Josh Armit, who claimed the title in 2023. Sean Herbert won in 2024 and has now made history as the only winger to take the title two years in a row, celebrating his victory in the 2025 PredictWind edition of the championship.
When asked how he got into wingfoiling, Sean said:
“I saw people winging off Manly, and having windsurfed, I thought it looked really strange. I decided to give it a go. And yep, after that, I sold all my windsurfing gear and bought winging gear! I don’t regret it for a second.”
If winging ever finds a place in the Olympics, Sean plans on being there to represent New Zealand.
“Winging is my number one focus now. I’m heading off to Europe for the World Cup events. The top 10 overseas wingers are French and Italian. I want to add New Zealand to that list,” said Sean.
Jon Bilger, founder of PredictWind, wasn’t just the sponsor—he was also a competitor in the silver division and even took home a trophy in the masters division.
“I’m just happy to be here! My daughters were out there on the racecourse as well, which makes me really proud. We love winging, and getting to do it as a family makes it even better,” said Jon.
Wakatere Boating Club had over 50 volunteers assisting with the event, with a key focus on sustainability and reducing waste. Everything that could be recycled was recycled, and the use of plastic was minimized.
The 2026 Wingfoil National Championships is set to be hosted “around the same time of year” at Worser Bay Boating Club in Wellington. It’s sure to be a high-wind event, living up to the saying, “The worser the bay, the better the sailor!”
RESULTS
Gold Overall
- Sean Herbert
- Jeremiah McDonald
- Kosta Gladiadis
Gold Women
- Stella Bilger
Gold Youth
- Kosta Gladiadis
Silver Overall
- Michael Scholes
- Olly Maidment
- Hugo Appleby
Silver Fleet – Grandmaster
- Andrew Mitchell
- Jeremy Stephenson
- Shayne Bright
Silver Masters Women
- Cristiana Chiappini-Brodie
Silver Masters
- Jon Bilger
- Danny Ok
- an Vickers
Silver Youth
- Michael Scholes
Silver Women
- Ava Spencer
- Laila Opanubi
- Addison Newland
Standout Winger
Riley Peet
Social Division Overall
- Oli Aldridge
- Scott Randell
- Bruce Walls
Women – Matilda Agostini
Youth – Gus Gillies
Master – Keven Peet
Grandmaster – Paul Salmon
Legend – Simon McDonald
Words & Photos by Suellen Hurling for Live Sail Die & PredictWind
