Sailing boat for children sinks Course boat rescues capsized boater from Lake Zurich

A sailing boat sinks on Lake Zurich on Thursday evening. The sailor was rescued by a scheduled boat.

There was an incident on Lake Zurich on Thursday evening: a young sailor got into difficulties with his small boat and had to be rescued from the water. A scheduled boat operated by the Lake Zurich Navigation Company (ZSG) eventually took the 21-year-old on board, as an eyewitness told the Tagesanzeiger newspaper. "We have just pulled a sailor out of the water," said a sailor on board. "But unfortunately we couldn't save the boat."

The young man, who was barefoot in a wetsuit and visibly exhausted on board, later explained that he had been in the water for a while after his boat sank. He had launched the boat, a so-called Optimist - a small sailing boat for children and young people - at Villa Alma in Männedorf. The boat, which is actually designed for people up to 1.70 meters and 70 kilos, was unsuitable for the 1.80 meter tall sailor.

Several rescues per year

The wind drove the sailor further and further out, and during an abrupt turning maneuver, the boat filled with water. "I could only jump out of the boat," he said. After trying in vain to scoop out the boat, he decided to swim to the shore. However, it was a long way to the shore near Männedorf and he panicked. A passenger on the boat finally spotted him and the crew rescued him.

Such rescues are not unusual for the ZSG. "It happens two to three times a year that we help swimmers, stand-up paddlers or sailors in distress out of the water," ZSG media spokeswoman Sonja Randjelovic told the Tagesanzeiger newspaper. The course boat continued its journey after the rescue and the rescued man was later handed over to the maritime police.