Beachgoers have raised concerns about a new surfing trend on the rise across Australia that is banned from some of our most popular beaches.
Hydrofoiling is an emerging sport in which riders use a surfboard-like craft equipped with a curved, wing-like fin underneath.
This fin suspends the board above the water, allowing riders to glide effortlessly over the surface, even in calm water.
While some are propelled by ocean currents or the “pumping” motion of the rider, others are also equipped with a lithium-powered jet propulsion system.
Despite the growing popularity of hydrofoiling around the world, it has been banned from some of Sydney’s most popular beaches, including Clovelly, Coogee, Maroubra, Brontë, Bondi and Tamarama.
However, some hydrofoilers, also known as foilers, are choosing to ignore it, which has caused tension among those on the water.
An incident occurred earlier this year at Bondi Beach, where a beachgoer confronted a hydrofoil user while riding a wave and said it was dangerous.
A hydrofoil was confronted at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, where the sport is banned.
The beachgoer who confronted the cyclist shared on Facebook: “I talked to one of them thinking he shouldn’t know, he said he knows and doesn’t care.”
“I saw so many accidents, a father and his little daughter surfing almost got into them and then the guy told them to be careful with their foil.”
However, leading Bondi local foil Joshua Ku said the ban was an overreach by councils.
“Instead of using common sense with the situation, councils think they just need to make a rule, and then the rule protects everyone,” he told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
“To the untrained eye, the activity looks dangerous, but if you look at all the reports, no one on an aluminum board has ever harmed anyone on the beach.”
Ku added that hydrofoiling is not banned at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, even though it attracts more than four million swimmers a year.
He said many surfers were “jealous” of foilers.
“When someone is sitting there and maybe they don’t get as many waves as this foiler, instead of looking and saying it looks really fun and exciting, they’d rather just sit and complain,” he said.
Having spent his entire life surfing before becoming a foiler, Ku said the budding community is more welcoming to newcomers than to surfers trying to protect their local surf spot from outsiders.
Joshua Ku (pictured), a leading hydrofoil figure, argued that bans on the activity by local councils were unnecessary.
Hydrofoiling is banned from some of Sydney’s most popular beaches, including Bondi (pictured)
‘That’s just surf culture. “When you have older surfers who feel like they have a connection to their local beach and a little bit of ownership, they think they can be the ones making the decisions,” he said.
“They don’t like it when a new sport appears and is more effective than the one they practice.”
Breaking away from the classic ‘local surfer’ culture is one of the reasons Mr. Ku is so passionate about growing the foiling community.
“When you paddle a foil board and there’s another foiler out there, they’re always really happy to see you,” he said.
‘They ask you: “What are you doing? What have you been doing lately with your frustrations?” And it’s just a really refreshing attitude.”
Ku hopes future talks with councils will help increase the amount of time foilers can enjoy surfing and potentially move towards lifting the ban.
Others pointed out the hypocrisy of the ban, noting that swimmers could feel the same fear due to the presence of many out-of-control surfers.
The ban on foils in Bondi was introduced in 2019 by Waverley Council and was extended south to Malabar by Randwick Council in 2022.
“We share the community’s concerns about hydrofoil surfboards and public safety,” a Waverley Council spokesperson told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
‘We would ask passengers to get out of the water or inform them upon arrival that hydrofoils cannot be used on our beaches.
‘This proactive approach by first responders has been effective and most passengers respect our position.
“We are calling on hydrofoil passengers to respect the rules and will continue to hold discussions with our neighboring councils and local hydrofoil passenger groups to ensure a consistent approach to managing public concerns.”