2026 iQFOiL European Championships, Day 6: Rising New windfoil star Aimee Bright claims career-best silver as New Zealand secures third major sailing medal in a week

Rising Kiwi windsurfing star Aimee Bright wanted to "stand out" among the 75-board fleet at the 2026 iQFOiL European Championships, so she bought brightly coloured wetsuit bottoms and spray-painted her helmet fluorescent pink shortly before the regatta began.

Across six days on the water in Portimão, Portugal, she certainly achieved that — although her results had far more to do with it than her attire.

The 20-year-old Aucklander claimed the biggest result of her career overnight, securing silver at the prestigious championships against some of the world’s best windfoilers.

It marked the first senior podium finish of her career and underlined her emergence as one of the sport's brightest young stars.

It was also the country's third medal at a major sailing event in the past week, following Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush winning gold at the 2026 49er World Championships, and George Gautrey claiming bronze at the 2026 ILCA European Championships.

"I'm super stoked with how my week went, and I surprised myself," Bright said. "The conditions were really good and, apart from one day, we raced every single day. It was really fun racing against all the other girls, seeing how good they are, and just trying to do the best I could."

Aimee Bright won silver at the iQFOiL European Championship in Portugal overnight - her first senior medal in the class. Photos / Sailing Energy

Bright entered the women's Grand Final in second overall behind Tamar Steinberg and managed to hold on to the silver medal despite finishing fourth in the four-board medal race.

She started slightly off the pace but remained in contention heading to the bottom gate before a mistake all but ended her hopes of snatching gold.

"My plan for the medal race was to get off the start cleanly and nail the layline," Bright explained. "I obviously didn't do that very well. I was a little bit late to the start, so I got rolled by Tamar, but my speed felt pretty good.

"I had a bit of a shocker on the downwind. I couldn't quite make the lay perfectly, I fell off the foil a little bit and just couldn't make up the ground, unfortunately."

Steinberg eventually won a drag race to the line with compatriot Shahar Tibi, while Pilar Lamadrid Trueba of Spain finished third, and Bright crossed in fourth.

The Kiwi's consistency throughout the opening series ultimately proved enough to secure silver. She won three races during qualifying, including one on a brilliant final day of gold-fleet racing, where she rebounded from an early retirement in the opening race to climb from fifth to second overall heading into the medal showdown.

Bright was consistent throughout the event - picking up three race wins on her way to second place overall. Photos / Sailing Energy

Despite spending most of the regatta near the front of the fleet, Bright admitted nerves were a constant challenge.

"I'm glad I look like I'm confident and have everything together," she laughed. "I guess I live by the motto: fake it till you make it.

"Obviously, I have days where the nerves get the better of me, and I make a few mistakes, but it's such a huge mental game. It's about trying to stay cool, calm and collected, and just doing the best you can."

Windsurfing pedigree runs deep for Bright. She is the daughter of New Zealand Olympic great Barbara Kendall, who made history as the first New Zealand woman to compete at five Olympic Games. Kendall won Olympic gold in Barcelona in 1992, silver in Atlanta in 1996 and bronze in Sydney in 2000, while also collecting 11 world championship medals and 25 national titles during a decorated career.

"I'm incredibly proud of Aimee and the whole New Zealand squad," Kendall said. "It's been a challenging event, that's for sure — lots of late nights staying up to see what the results were. Aimee would ring me most mornings and evenings for a catch-up and a bit of a pep talk.

"These Europeans were very much like a world championships — every country was there, and you can see from the results just how competitive the fleet is becoming.

"For Aimee to come away with second, she's extremely happy — and maybe a little relieved. But there's still so much more to work on, so much more to learn and more experience to gain. Hopefully, this is just the beginning."

Bright's rise has accelerated rapidly over the past 12 months. Last year, she claimed silver at the under-23 World Championships in a New Zealand one-two alongside Stella Bilger, highlighting the country's growing depth in the class.

In Portimão, Bilger finished 14th, narrowly missing the top-10 cut, while Paris 2024 Olympian Veerle ten Have was 15th. Eli Liefting also impressed in the men's fleet, placing 18th overall.

Veerle ten Have (pictured) and Stella Bilger finished just outside the top 10 in the women's fleet. Photos / Sailing Energy

Good friends off the water and close teammates on it, Bright, Bilger and ten Have will compete for New Zealand's sole women's iQFOiL berth at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

"There are always areas for improvement," Bright said. "I'm still learning every single day, and there's always something new to work on. Starts are still a huge focus for me, especially getting off the line cleanly with so many girls around you.

"My big focus recently has been windy and wavy conditions, and we got a bit of that during this regatta, so I was stoked to come away with such a good result."

The New Zealand squad now turns its attention towards Los Angeles, where they will spend three weeks training at the Olympic venue before building towards this year's world championships in Weymouth.

"We all head home now to reset and then train together through June and early July," Bright said. "Then we go to LA for a three-week training camp and a couple of regattas. There should be a really good-sized fleet there with lots of countries training together, so it'll be awesome to experience the venue and get some good racing in.

"After that, we go to Weymouth in August to prepare for the world championships in September."

And after a breakthrough week in Portugal, Bright's flower-patterned wetsuit and fluorescent pink helmet will definitely make the journey.

"I figured I needed new wetsuit long johns, and I saw the flowery pair," Bright laughed. "I wanted to stand out so I could get lots of photos from the event photographer, so I spray-painted my helmet fluorescent pink and wore my colourful wetsuit to just be bright and happy!

"This result is obviously a career highlight for me — my first ever senior medal — which is so surreal. It's a really cool stepping stone, and I can't wait to see what happens in the future."

Final results and standings from the 2026 iQFOiL European Championships are available here.