Simon Bibby crashed into sailing's elite ranks the hard way, then went looking for more speed.
The Australian is competing in the inaugural Inclusive Wingfoil event at the World Sailing Inclusion Championships in Portimão, and his path to the start line has been anything but straightforward. A spinal cord injury in 2020 left him using a wheelchair. He found his way back to sailing through Sailability and the Hansa 303 class, progressing quickly enough to reach the World Championships in Pittwater last year, where he finished around mid-fleet in his first international event.
Still, something nagged at him.
"I was still chasing speed," Bibby said.
That chase led him to seated wing foiling, after watching footage of French rider Guillaume Colin doing exactly that. He knew straight away he wanted in. Months later he joined the first Australian Para Wing Foiling camp, working through a discipline that is itself still being figured out, from adaptive equipment through to technique and balance.
It has not been easy. But the payoff, when it comes together, is what matters.
"Flying is just surreal," he said. "It is just crazy fun. I'm hooked."
For Bibby, it is another case of finding a different way through. "Through life we have challenges and you've just got to go around and find a way," he said. He traces it back to windsurfing in the 1980s, idolising Robby Naish and Björn Dunkerbeck. "I still follow Björn now. The speeds that guy is doing are crazy, and he's not even foiling."
Fittingly, Bibby is now racing alongside the man whose footage set him on this path. Colin leads the Inclusive Wingfoil fleet after winning three of the day's four races, with Bibby second overall and Great Britain's Charlie Wolf out in front.
That same sense of discovery is showing up elsewhere in the fleet, among nations racing at these Championships for the first time. Vietnam's Tran Qoc Phung, sailing the Inclusive Two Person Keelboat (Hansa 303), called it simply a chance to race internationally and experience Portuguese waters. "I'm very happy to be here," he said. "I hope in the future I can come back and enjoy it more and more."
Barbados' Daniel McCollin is still finding his feel for the boat. "My expectation is just to put my best foot forward and do as well as I can," he said. "It's my first time sailing this boat, so I'm still getting a feel for it. But I'm enjoying it."
There was a birthday on the water too. Trinidad and Tobago's Ivan Stollmeyer turned 12 while competing in the Para Intellectual Impairment (ILCA 6) fleet, the youngest sailor at the regatta and here for his first major international event.
Elsewhere, the standings are sharpening after day two. Finland hold all three top spots in the Para Inclusive One Person Technical Keelboat (2.4mR), with Marko Dahlberg leading Niko Salomaa and Rikard Bjurström after collecting two race wins and a second on the day. Portugal's Rodrigo Pereira won two of three races to lead the Inclusive Cognitive Impairment (ILCA 6) fleet from compatriot José Campos, while Hong Kong's Tsz Hin Cheung tops the Para Intellectual Impairment standings.
Great Britain's Lucy Hodges, Jamie Tylecote, Liam Cattermole and Steve Tylecote remain unbeaten in the RS21 Vision Impairment event after three more race wins, with Spain's Dani Anglada Pich, Carmen Lopez Garcia, Jordi Sánchez Pérez and Monica Azon Canalda moving up to second.
James Coxon, also of Great Britain, has recovered from a day-one startline penalty in style, winning three straight races in the Para Inclusive Multihull (Challenger) to take the overall lead from compatriot Val Millward, with Bex Foulsham completing an all-British top three after five races.
Sweden's Fia Fjelddahl and Patric Rosenberg remain on top in the Para Inclusive Two Person Keelboat (RS Venture Connect) after two more race wins, though Spain's Pau Toni Homar and Ramón Gutiérrez are breathing down their necks, just a point adrift.
Poland's Piotr Cichocki and Joanna Cichocka continue to set the pace in the Inclusive Two Person Keelboat (Hansa 303) after adding a win and a second, ahead of Portugal's Carlos Santos and João Pinto, with Korea's Mun Sungwon and Dongjin Yun tied for third with Oman's Malik Al Qartoubi and Ghalya Al Jabri. The Para Inclusive One Person Keelboat (Hansa 303) is just as tight, with France's Gauthier Bril now on top after three races but level on points with Poland's Piotr Cichocki and Germany's Jens Kroker.
Racing continues through the week, and the margins are closing across almost every fleet.
Bibby, for his part, is already looking well beyond Portimão.
"Let's get Brisbane happening. Brisbane '32," he said. "If I get there, I get there. But if we can at least get [the discipline] there, I'll support it, be there, help out. Give other people an experience of something that is so cool."
The 2026 World Sailing Inclusion Championships in Portimão run until Saturday 10 October, delivered in partnership with Vela Solidária, the Municipality of Portimão, and the Portuguese Sailing Federation, with backing from the America's Cup.
