Wind’s not a spoiler for wing foilers

When the wind comes up over Caroline Bay, a small group of Timaru men head out to harness its power for a wing foiling session.

The fast-growing sport involves standing on a hydrofoil board or a stand-up paddleboard, holding a handheld inflatable sail — known as a wing — and using the wind as their primary source of propulsion to glide over the water.

Timaru man Brad Dennison picked up the sport after more than 20 years of body surfing around the world.

"I’d seen people online wing foiling and sat on the idea for a couple of years, and then finally bought the gear.

"It’s a challenge. You use every single muscle in your body, and it took me a couple of months of real hard graft before I got it."

Fellow wing foiler Daz Charteris gave him a lot of advice and Mr Dennison also spent a couple of weeks learning in Fiji.

He said it finally clicked from there.

While the best in the world can hit speeds of about 66kmh, Mr Dennison said he would usually be topping out at about 37kmh.

That is high enough speed for him to have popped a couple of ribs and injured his shoulder over the years.

Timaru’s weather worked in wing foilers’ favour and over the last six months or so the men had been out on the water two to three times a week.

"The wind usually comes up in the afternoon or evening, so by the time you finish work, the wind is screaming."