Hunstanton lifeboat rushes to wing foiler in strong winds

Strong winds off the Norfolk coast turned a wing-foiling session into a live rescue call at Hunstanton, where the station’s fastest inshore lifeboat was sent out for a rider thought to be in trouble. The risk was plain: what starts as a routine practice run can become a search-and-rescue problem in minutes when wind, tide and board control stop lining up.

Hunstanton RNLI was paged just before 6pm on Thursday 9 April 2026 and launched Spirit of West Norfolk in just over 10 minutes, even though the crew had to travel across the beach at low water to get the lifeboat afloat. After heading south along the beach in the windy conditions, they found the foiler back on his board and surfing again, having stepped on and off it while practising. No injuries were reported.

For Mike Gould, the call landed in the grey area that so often defines water safety in small, fast-moving incidents. He logged it as a false alarm with good intent, a reminder that the line between a rider sorting out a messy moment and a genuine emergency can be thin when conditions are strong and the shore crew cannot see exactly what is happening out on the water.

The episode also shows why wing foiling keeps coming onto RNLI radar. The charity describes the sport as different from kite surfing: the rider stands on a board and uses a hand-held inflatable wing to harness the wind and generate lift. That setup gives foilers speed and range, but it also leaves little margin when the wind freshens, especially close to shore where self-rescue options can disappear quickly.

Hunstanton RNLI operates Spirit of West Norfolk and the search and rescue hovercraft Hunstanton Flyer from Sea Lane, Old Hunstanton, and covers The Wash, a tidal estuary of more than 200 square miles, along with parts of the North Norfolk coast. The station’s current page says it also runs an Atlantic 85 lifeboat and one of only four inshore rescue hovercraft. The RNLI, founded in 1824, says its crews and lifeguards have saved more than 146,700 lives.

The Hunstanton shout was not an isolated one. RNLI has already launched to wing-foiling incidents at St Agnes, Southend, Port Talbot and Poole in 2024 and 2025. For foil riders, that pattern is the real warning: the sport’s speed and reach are impressive, but in blustery conditions the decision to launch, and the judgment to stop, can be the difference between a session and a rescue.