Justin Ahearn wins Bristol Harbor wingfoil race as foiling field grows

Steady 17-to-22-knot winds turned Bristol Harbor into a fast, foiling lane on Saturday, and Justin Ahearn handled the conditions best to win overall as Bristol Yacht Club’s 5th annual Wingfoil Racing Series kept growing in size and range. The field included 24 competitors, among them four women, two juniors and several racers in their 60s, a spread that made the day look less like a specialty race and more like a cross-section of the sport’s next stage.

The format was demanding enough to separate the field. Sailors completed five races, then finished with a long-distance run around Hog Island, a closing test that punished anyone who relied on a quick start alone. Ahearn won the overall title on a windfoil, while Jason Morton won the wingfoil division, a split that underscored how the series now brings together different foiling setups under one start line.

That distinction matters because the equipment shapes the racing. Wingfoils use a handheld inflatable wing, while windfoils connect a sail directly to the board through a carbon mast. In both classes, the hydrofoil does the real work, lifting the board above the surface and cutting drag so dramatically that the boat wake becomes almost beside the point. The result in Bristol Harbor was a fleet skimming across the water rather than pushing through it.

Bristol Yacht Club has built the 2026 program around that momentum. Its foil racing schedule runs on five Saturdays in May and June and is open to all, including newcomers who are just getting into the sport. The club says Bristol Harbor’s deep water and consistent wind make it a premier East Coast venue for foil-based water sports, and the setup on Saturday backed up that claim. The New England Wingfoil Championship follows on June 20 and 21, the club’s 5th annual championship, with wing foils and windsurf foil boards invited and a $60 entry fee for both days. Lunch and a cocktail social hour are scheduled for Saturday.

The timing fits a sport that has moved well beyond novelty status. Wingfoil racing is now part of the international circuit through the International Wing Sports Association and World Sailing, but Bristol’s scene still feels grounded in the basics: wind, water and a club with a long memory. Bristol Yacht Club was founded in 1877 by Brown University students, and this spring’s series showed how a 19th-century sailing institution is helping carry a newer foiling class into a broader future.