The crew of the rescue cruiser "Bremen" observed two kitesurfers on the Großenbroder Binnensee on 3 February. With six to seven Beaufort easterly winds, the two men from Lübeck took advantage of the favourable conditions for their sport. The inland lake, which is open to the Baltic Sea, usually offers good conditions for kitesurfing in strong easterly winds. One of the two lost his kiteboard in the process. The sea rescuers initially spotted the men together on the frozen part of the lake on their way to the shore. But then one of them turned back, apparently to retrieve his kiteboard. A few minutes later, the water sportsman, who was wearing a wetsuit, broke into the ice. The sea rescuers immediately launched the daughter boat "Vegesack".
Rescue from icebergs
At this point, the ice was in a freezing phase, which turns the surface of the water into a thick but extremely brittle, cloudy layer of ice. The layer is not yet firmly cohesive. In technical literature, this sludge-like ice is referred to as ice gravel. The sea rescuers managed to drive so far towards the kiter in the ice that he was able to move himself through the ice to the daughter boat. The man would not have managed to get back to land under his own steam. The air temperature was minus three degrees Celsius and the water temperature was around zero degrees. The sea rescuers also picked up his kiteboard and brought the rescued man safely ashore.
Dangers for wingfoilers too
In addition to the high risk of hypothermia, board sports enthusiasts sometimes underestimate another frost phenomenon that is well known from other seafaring: the icing of superstructures and rigs. When the air and water temperatures are low, the spray torn away by whitecaps freezes where the water droplets hit the boat. This can be particularly dangerous for sailing boats when spars, shrouds and stages become increasingly covered in an ice shell. This leads to an upward shift in the centre of gravity, reduced stability and additional weight load. In addition, the "sail area" increases due to the larger contact surfaces. Overall, the risk of capsizing increases. The only way to counter this is for the crew to tap the ice.
With wingfoilers, this phenomenon can lead to the wing or foil icing up and becoming increasingly heavy, to the point where the pilot is unable to operate it. So there are on Instagram- a recent report from a wingfoiler who was travelling in sub-zero temperatures and experienced exactly this problem. The athlete reports that he tried to thaw the ice in the water, but this caused even more ice to form on the tubes (the inflatable tubes of the wing). He mentions that he had both a Naish and a DuotoneWing with him, both of which were affected by this problem.
