An extensive marine search for what were thought to be two missing paddleboarders on the New South Wales Mid North Coast has sparked calls for greater safety around the emerging water sport of hydrofoiling.
The search began when a bystander called emergency services on Monday evening after mistakenly thinking people who had ventured out "foiling" more than a kilometre offshore at Nambucca Heads were in need of assistance.
Instead, they were trying to catch the wind and swells, an activity known as downwinding.
Hydrofoiling, in its current form, is a relatively new sport that involves people riding on surfboard-like craft with a curved, wing-shaped fin beneath the board, which enables the rider to glide above the surface of the water.
In the case at Nambucca, the search wrapped up after police tracked down the foilers who had made it safely to shore and had not been in distress.
Marine Rescue NSW duty operations manager Steve Raymond said the search highlighted the need for people going ocean foiling to log their intentions.
"The gentlemen were completely unaware that people were looking for them at all. They were visitors to the area," he said.
"A lot of resources and time went into it, but we'd prefer it to end this way, knowing they are safe.
"For anyone doing that sort of thing, it's probably best if they log on with Marine Rescue or have someone on land to make sure they are OK … hopefully other people may learn from this as well."
What is foiling?
The use of hyrdofoils dates back more than a century when large wing-like fins were attached to vessels with the goal of saving fuel.
Tynon Bradford, who operates a foiling business in the Coffs Harbour region, said it was not until the late 1990s, when US big wave surfer Laird Hamilton began experimenting with attaching hydrofoils to surfboards, that a new sport emerged.
"It's a hydrofoil, so basically it's a board with a long mast, fuselage and two wings," he said.
"Foiling is an incredible feeling and it's going to turn the ocean into a big skate park in a sense.
"It's an exhilarating feeling to be flying over the water with no sound and to be at one with the ocean."
Mr Bradford said people were using foils and adapting them for use in other sports such as surfing and kite surfing, and also the challenging offshore form of unpowered foiling known as downwinding.
There is also e-foiling, which involves a lithium battery, propeller, or jet-powered hydrofoil.
"Downwinding involves paddling offshore on a very windy day and taking off on a white cap bump to get on foil and then riding up or down the coast with the wind, picking up the southerly or northerly swells," Mr Bradford said.
"The world [downwinding] record set in 2023 stands with Olivia Piana in Portugal of 287.4 kilometres in one day. Prior to 2022, it was with Australian James Casey at 213 kilometres."
Mr Bradford said modern types of foiling had skyrocketed in the past two years.
"The modern sport is only five to seven years old, it's just hitting a level of popularity now ... e-foils were commercially available from about five years ago," he said.
"On February 4, they had the inaugural Australian Sydney Northern Beaches downwind race from Avalon to Brownwater, which was won by James Casey."
Safety precautions
Mr Bradford said efforts were being made to improve safety protocols, particularly as downwinding involved people travelling a considerable distance from the shore.
"We are still, as a sport, working out how we do it safely for ourselves, so we don't panic others," he said.
"Foilers going that far offshore should put in a call to marine authorities and let them know. Some people are doing that already.
"I think it will become a protocol for people doing this, and we've talked about it.
"If I am out on a totally unpowered board we will put a call in to NSW Maritime to let them know where we are leaving from, and aiming for."
Mr Bradford said it was also good to be prepared.
"Whenever I have gone out and done it [downwinding], I carried a backpack and had an emergency beacon and a watch and could call people ... we always go prepared," he said.