BirdyFish's self-regulating foils have already won Sailing World's Boat of the Year title. Now the French dinghy range is heading to Australia, with New Zealand next in line.
BirdyFish, a French foiling dinghy brand out of Saint-Herblain near Nantes, has built a three-boat range designed to let a first-time foiler rig, launch and fly within a single session. The BirdyFish S has already won Sailing World's 2025 Boat of the Year title in the Best Foiler category, and the brand is now bringing the full range to Australia, with a dedicated New Zealand shipment in its sights.
Foils designed to look after themselves
Every BirdyFish uses foils shaped to regulate lift through their own geometry, rather than the mechanical wands and flaps used on boats like the Moth. As speed and ride height increase, the foil system progressively regulates lift itself. The same foil geometry also generates righting moment, which is central to BirdyFish's attempt to make foiling less demanding for recreational sailors. It's also why a Sailing World judge testing the BirdyFish S, who had never foiled before, was up and flying within 30 seconds and called the experience "insanely easy." The smaller Ioda was separately named to SAIL Magazine's Best Small Boats of 2026 list, with SAIL noting it's light enough for a roof rack and manageable for a first-time foiler within minutes.
An engineering project that now races for real
BirdyFish began as an engineering school graduation project for three sailors in their early twenties: Jean-Baptiste Morin, Alban Satgé and current CEO Pierre Rhimbault. They brought in Mini Transat naval architect Etienne Bertrand to draw the hull and foil specialist Jean-Baptiste Behm to shape the flight surfaces. All three current models lift off at 8 knots of wind, and the double-handed model has recorded speeds up to 27.4 knots. That racing pedigree became literal in 2025, when Foiling Week at Lake Garda awarded the first BirdyFish World Championship title, racing alongside the Moth, WASZP, Switch and ETF26 classes. Italy's Federico Bonalana and Marco Alberti took the win after 12 races, with Rhimbault himself on the startline battling for bronze.
Three boats, one range
| Model | Crew | Length | Weight | Take off wind | Sailing speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ioda | Solo, max 90kg | 3.20m | 55kg | 8 knots | 15 to 20 knots |
| BirdyFish S | 1 to 2, max 150kg | 4.20m | 110kg | 8 knots | 20+ knots |
| BirdyFish (Double Race) | 2 to 3, max 225kg | 4.70m | 145kg | 8 knots | 27.4 knots recorded max |
The Ioda is the entry point, small enough for a roof rack. The BirdyFish S scales that up for solo or duo sailing and carries the Boat of the Year title. The double-handed BirdyFish, marketed in Australia as the Double Race, takes two or three aboard and sits at the performance end of the range.
New Zealand's turn is coming
BirdyFish confirmed the move into this part of the world directly: "BirdyFish is officially coming to Australia and New Zealand." The brand's first shipment lands in Sydney this November, with demo sails to follow there from late November, run by Sydney-based distributor Salty's Boat Company. New Zealand doesn't have a shipment or dealer confirmed yet. Distributor Craig Greenhill has told us a dedicated New Zealand shipment is being targeted for early 2027, with local partners still being finalised, and that NZ sailors are welcome to travel to the Sydney demo days in the meantime.
https://www.birdyfish.com/
