Sea rescue service rescues regatta participant
Story Update 10.08.2026. DGzRS rescue operation during the ‘Baltic Crossing Challenge’.
The “Baltic Crossing Challenge”, a long-distance regatta from Gedser in Denmark to Warnemünde, some 48 kilometres away, forms part of this year’s “Hanse Sail”. A participating windsurfer was reported overdue to the DGzRS sea rescue service at around 1.15 pm on 7 August 2026.
However, according to a press release from Hanse Sail dated 7 August – which was also available as an article on the Hanse Sail website on Saturday, 8 August 2026 – all 18 participants arrived safely at the surf school below the Neptun Hotel “and were greeted with cheers by family and friends.”
If everyone had arrived, who was rescued?
A call to the Hanse Sail press office was intended to clarify the matter: initially, it had been assumed there that all participants had arrived. However, this was not the case. On Saturday, the Hanse Sail press office saw no reason to correct the information that had been made public regarding the safe arrival of all 18 participants at their destination. All participants were equipped with live trackers.
Update 10 August 2026:
The man who was rescued – an experienced windsurfer, boat surveyor and skipper – explained to DAILY DOSE how, in his view, the emergency situation came about. Using his 7.8-metre camber sail and his 138-litre Starboard Futura, he was unable to keep up with the downwind course of the group comprising wingfoilers, kiters and windsurfers. At the same time, he did not want to sit on his board and wait for help at that point, as he recognised the danger of drifting into the traffic separation zone with heavy shipping traffic without a radar reflector.
So he headed away from the group on a close-hauled course and, 13 kilometres off Warnemünde, entered an area of closely spaced waves about two metres high. His plan to let himself drift out of this zone whilst sitting on the board failed. After waiting for an hour, during which his position did not change, he rang his daughter to organise his rescue. This had already been set in motion by that point. All the other participants had arrived in the meantime. When he was found, he reported a body temperature of 34°C, as confirmed by the rescuers.
The man who was rescued does not blame the regatta organisers. Rather, the question is when one decides for oneself that it is no longer possible to continue.
Kathrin Borgwardt from Baltic Crossing emphasises that it is important to make clear that the race organisers were aware of the situation from the start of the regatta. She points out that the man who was later rescued was unable to keep up with the start boat and the group right from the start due to the course. The man who was rescued left the regatta at his own discretion. He changed his route of his own accord without informing the race organisers. Once the other participants had arrived, the sea rescue service was called out.
The rescue
According to the DGzRS, it was unclear where the windsurfer was at the time the alarm was raised. In addition to the sea rescue cruiser ‘Arkona’, those involved in the search included the coastal patrol boat ‘Warnow’ from the Rostock Water Police Inspectorate, the deep-sea salvage tug ‘Baltic’ from the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) and the research vessel ‘Elisabeth M. Borgese’ from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde (IOW).
According to the DGzRS, the harbour masters in Warnemünde drew attention to the trackers carried by the regatta participants, which ultimately enabled his position to be determined.
The 57-year-old was found exhausted 13 kilometres north-west of Warnemünde in seas of up to two metres. The man was taken aboard the Arkona’s auxiliary boat. The crews of the Warnow and Baltic took care of the windsurfing equipment. The survivor was treated on board the Arkona by the volunteer maritime emergency doctor and handed over to an ambulance on shore.
August 10, 2026 © DAILY DOSE | Text: Christian Tillmanns | Fotos/Grafiken: Die Seenotretter - DGzRS / Casio | translation: DE
