Hugo Wigglesworth took his first title in his debut season while Andrea Zust doubled up
Days of after their wins in Abu Dhabi, New Zealand’s Hugo Wigglesworth and Switzerland’s Andrea Zust reflected on landing their crowns. In the coming year Wigglesworth, 19, will divide his energies between Big Air hydrofoil and twin-tip, in the hope of rising higher up the ranks there too. Zust, 29, a newly-qualified doctor, only has the time and conditions to train for hydrofoil competitions. They talked to Ian MacKinnon about their mindset.
Hugo Wigglesworth (NZL) 2025 GKA Hydrofoil Big Air World Champion
Ian MacKinnon: Congratulations. You’ve had a few days to digest your win, how do feel about it now?
Hugo Wigglesworth: Similar to how I ended the day, still pretty stoked. Just really happy with my performance actually. Looking back on the heat now I’m kind of surprised how well I put together that final.
IM: Talk us through your season. Sylt, Germany, was your debut and you went big there to win. How do you feel about that?
HW: Going into Sylt the goal in general for me this year was just to do as many events as possible. Last year I finished school in November, so I’ve just been going kiting as much as possible. Going to Sylt I didn’t know what to expect. But I just did my own tricks. I got there and realised it scored well, so I was pretty happy.
IM: Were you surprised?
HW: Before I got there, if you’d told me I would come out on top, I’d have been surprised. But then I could see the level. Being in New Zealand I don’t actually see any of these riders in person, so you don’t know where the level’s at. Once I got there and saw the level, I realised I was up there. I was happy with how I kited under competition pressure.
IM: What did you think coming here to Abu Dhabi?
HW: Coming here to Abu Dhabi I was expecting similar conditions to Germany, you know, big foil kites. Airstyle tricks and I knew that Finn Flügel was going to be pretty much my only competition, if I was having a good day. The final I felt like there was twice the amount of pressure. It was super tight.
IM: And how do you cope with the pressure in competition?
HW: I don’t really have a secret. I definitely feel the pressure, especially during the heats and stuff. I think you just have to live with it. But it’s something that can really affect your performance if you get tight. I felt actually the pressure kind of helped me, because I pulled out the tricks that I did that day in the final.
IM: You just missed out on spot in Red Bull Kota this year, where do you see your focus in the coming year between hydrofoil and twin-tip?
HW: I think probably I will focus on twin-tip more than hydrofoil. But I think there’s enough time in a year if you need to practice both. I think if the conditions are going to be good, I’m going to practice more on a twin-tip for sure.
IM: Is there a big difference between the two disciplines, in terms of timing?
HW: You can gain those kite control skills out of both disciplines. So that’s definitely helping. I think the hardest thing about the foil, is the foil skills needed for landing and take offs. That’s the hardest thing really. And then going to a twin-tip was just like going back to tricycle or something, you know everything becomes a little bit easier.
Andrea Zust (SUI) 2025 GKA Hydrofoil Big Air World Champion
Ian MacKinnon: How did you feel about your first world title, and now your second?
Andrea Zust: The first time I really wanted it. I really trained for it. I achieved it. It’s great. What else do you want? And then going into this season, I wanted to win it twice. I’m not going to be happy with second place after experiencing last year. But I was also realistic. I didn’t know the other girls who were competing. I didn’t know their level, so I didn’t want to be too confident. If this goes well, it’ll be really nice, but it’s not world ending if it doesn’t. That’s what gives me a kind of calmness and perspective.
IM: Did you end up focusing on hydrofoil because you live in Switzerland?
AZ: Definitely, yes. Just to maximise your time on the water in the end. When I started kiting in Switzerland it was with my boyfriend [Peer Schnyder]. He had just started foiling. There were many sessions where I was just sitting on the beach waiting for the wind to pick up. I was watching all the foilers having fun so that was the motivation to start foiling. I just got a twin-tip recently, because we are heading to Cape Town for the season. So maybe I’ll get into twin-tip again. But for now, living in Switzerland, we’ll stick with hydrofoil.
We foil on our lakes and it’s really on all of them, because we have different wind systems in all the parts of Switzerland due to the mountains. We of have microsystems, wind systems, and so usually on Fridays or on Thursdays we just check all the forecasts for all the lakes, and we just drive to wherever we have the best chances. So we get wind every weekend.
IM: Watching the men in Hydrofoil Big Air, and the complexity of their tricks, does that inspire you?
AZ: Definitely. All the rotations are amazing. Big Air tricks, more extreme tricks, looping tricks. That’s why Cape Town was our main choice. If you’re out there on a hydrofoil, you don’t have to deal with the conditions above the water; the strength of the wind and the surface of the water. But there’s also the currents under the surface. Just riding a hydrofoil is a challenge for most people.
IM: How do you see the progression of Hydrofoil Big Air?
AZ: It depends what depends what kind of competition we’re talking about. If it’s GKA; if it’s going towards UAE, or light-wind destinations, then for sure it will go towards foil kites. They just give you extra height and extra hangtime, especially at the low end. But over 15 to 20 knots, the advantage of an LEI is clear, with looping, and so on. We see it with Charles Brodel, who’s focusing on Red Bull.
Images: Svetlana Romantsova / Lukas K Stiller