At around 15:35 on 11 October 2025, a serious collision occurred between a motorboat and a sailing boat on the Austrian part of Lake Constance. According to the Vorarlberg State Police Directorate, a motorboat carrying four Austrian nationals collided with a sailing boat on which two German nationals were travelling. The sailboat was completely destroyed in the collision and one woman suffered fatal injuries. The first aid and resuscitation measures initiated immediately were unsuccessful.
Course of the accident
According to initial findings by the police, the motorboat approached the sailing boat at high speed and collided with it at "undiminished speed". The sailboat capsized due to the force of the impact and was completely destroyed. The male sailor was able to jump into the water shortly before the collision and remained uninjured. The woman, on the other hand, suffered serious injuries and was found floating in the water. Despite immediate rescue measures, she died at the scene of the accident. The four occupants of the motorboat were not physically injured in the accident, but were in shock and were cared for by the crisis intervention team.
Numerous rescue teams were deployed to the scene of the accident. The fire boats "Föhn" and "Pfänder", the water rescue boats "V-9" and "V-112" as well as the police boat "V-20" were on site. The "C8" rescue helicopter was also alerted. Once the rescue operations had been completed, the fire brigade and police took over the recovery of the boats involved and their towing ashore. According to the police, the exact course of the accident is the subject of further investigations.
