Sean Herbert's 2025 season announced him to the world as a wingfoiling force to be reckoned with. The 23-year-old Manly Sailing Club athlete collected podiums across multiple continents, outperformed seasoned international rivals, and returned home with domestic titles to match. Those achievements have now been formally recognised with the 2025 Barfoot & Thompson Male Sailor of the Year award.
The centrepiece of his year was a bronze medal at the inaugural Formula Wing World Championship held in Cagliari, Sardinia. Competing against the sport's elite in a brand-new global format, Herbert brought the consistency and tactical composure needed to land New Zealand's first podium finish at the event.
That result was no outlier. At the Wingfoil Racing World Cup in Silvaplana, Switzerland, Herbert turned heads in his very first appearance at the event, taking victory in the opening two races before finishing the regatta with another bronze medal. For many in the fleet, his debut performance signalled something significant: a new contender had arrived on the world stage.
Across the Pacific, he was equally dominant. At the U.S. Wingfoil Championships in San Francisco, Herbert won 13 of 15 races to claim the national title, a margin that left little room for debate. Back in New Zealand, he defended his national wingfoil crown to become the first sailor to win the title in consecutive years. The domestic season also delivered him the New Zealand Triple Crown and the Hawaii State titles, rounding out a campaign that was strong for both its depth and its reach.
Herbert's path to the top of foiling was built on a solid foundation in conventional dinghy sailing. A former O'pen Skiff world champion and three-time Starling national champion, he developed the race craft and tactical instincts that now serve him well in the high-speed, reactive world of wingfoiling. His transition into the foiling discipline came quickly and naturally, supported by coaching input from the America One Racing programme. Away from the water, his professional work as a composite laminator for Rocket Lab has given him a technical grounding that informs his understanding of the equipment he races.
The Barfoot & Thompson Male Sailor of the Year award acknowledges all of this: the disciplined training, the rapid rise through the international ranks, and the ability to produce world-class results far from home. With future world titles firmly in his sights, Herbert's 2025 campaign looks less like a peak and more like a starting point.
