Manly sailors win at nationals

Three Hibiscus Coast sailors were crowned national champions when they secured gold medals in their divisions at the iQFOiL National Championships, held at the Milford Cruising Club this month.

The iQFOiL is a foiling windsurfing class that replaced the RS:X at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Aimee Bright (20), Ben Rist (17) and Honor Fyfe (13) hail from Manly Sailing Club on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

Aimee Bright, recently coming off a successful international circuit, won the Women’s 7.3m Division title, previously held for seven consecutive years by Olympic sailor Veerle Ten Have.

It has been a challenging journey for Aimee after, overcoming a partially dislocated shoulder in 2023 that required surgery in early 2024. Unable to train or compete for nearly a year, she had significant ground to make up and the comeback tested her resilience.

Last year, however, she went from strength to strength, competing in four international regattas in Europe and bringing home a silver medal at the iQFOiL U23 Worlds in Portimao, Portugal in September 2025. Now, two years on from her surgery, she is finding a new gear.

“It felt so amazing, I’ve been training and working so hard for a year and a half now coming off the back of my shoulder surgery. To come out on top at our Nationals, I was a little surprised but so proud and happy at how far I’ve come. I’m really looking forward to the next Europe season coming up,” she says.

She is due to leave in March to compete in Palma, Spain.

Ben Rist started sailing an Open Skiff at Manly Sailing Club from an early age and transitioned to windsurfing at age 11. It was a natural progression into windfoiling for Ben, who has since achieved recognition in New Zealand and internationally.

Ben won the 2026 national title in the 8m Youth Male Division, backing up his win at the 2025 NZ Youth Championships last October, which saw him qualify to represent New Zealand at the Youth Worlds held in Vilamoura, Portugal last December.

In between training and racing, Ben is a Russell Coutts Sailing Foundation coach at Manly Sailing Club, specialising in windfoiling and wingfoiling, two fast-growing classes in New Zealand.

Honor Fyfe, who recently moved to the Hibiscus Coast from Blenheim, sailed from a young age in centreboard classes and moved into windfoiling just a year ago. She won first U13 Female at the 2025 Open Skiff Nationals in Plimmerton before trying her hand at windfoiling early last year.

Now aged 13 and only eight weeks after knee surgery, Honor worked hard in her recovery to prepare for her first iQFOiL regatta at the New Zealand Nationals. She was the youngest windfoiler competing and brought home a national trophy for her top ranking in the 6m Junior Category.