Dr. Charles Stewart Flies High on His Wing Foil
If you’ve heard of an activity that takes place in the ocean, chances are Dr. Charles Stewart, an orthopedic surgeon with Sarasota’s Sforzo Dillingham Stewart Orthopedics + Sports Medicine, has given it a shot. A former self-described “hardcore” freediver, he also surfs, but these days, his passion is wing foiling, in which someone stands on a foilboard and grips an inflatable wing that catches the wind and propels the rider across the surface of the water.
While the sport dates back to the 1980s, it has become white-hot in recent years. “It’s the pickleball of watersports,” says Stewart, who estimates that “hundreds” of people in the Sarasota area are into it.
Stewart and his wife, Tatyana, first tried wing foiling a few years ago when they signed up for a lesson near the Sunshine Skyway. “The first attempt was mind blowing,” says Stewart. “It was a completely new experience. People talk about being ‘in flow’—when you’re completely immersed in a physical and mental activity, and foiling is like that. You have to be completely present.”…