26 February 2023 brought the highest wind speeds ever recorded to Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Up to ten Beaufort gusts rippled across the lake and caused mast-high waves in Yverdon at the southern end. Timothy Schwitter grabbed his smallest sail and took to the water - you can see the spectacular pictures of his session in the gallery above.
Timothy reports on the extraordinary day: "The 'Bise' is known among Swiss windsurfers for constant, but usually not too strong north-easterly winds. In the winter months, it is unpopular with many windsurfers as it brings cold air from the north-east. It only reaches more than 30 knots a few times a year. However, the bise on 26 February 2023 near Mathod (near Yverdon) was the strongest bise since measurements began. The wind increased continuously throughout the day, and towards the evening the breeze blew at almost 100 km/h, creating astonishingly large waves. These unbelievable conditions made it easy to forget the 3.2 sail freezing on the water towards the evening and the icing boom. Unfortunately, Balz Müller was abroad, so the spectacular pictures he is known for are missing."
Bise storm with 100 km/h in Yvonand
Daniel Marty was also out on the water on Lake Neuchatel (French: Lac de Neuchatel) on 26 February, but a little further north in Yvonand. That's where he took the pictures that you can also see in the gallery above. Daniel talks about the storm:
"It was already apparent a few days beforehand that there would be an exceptionally strong iron storm in western Switzerland on Sunday. In our long windsurfing career, we had never seen such a big difference in pressure, sometimes up to 11 hPa. The only question was how strong and, above all, how cold it would be. It started to blow during the night and on Sunday morning it was already stormy. The peak was forecast for the afternoon and around 12 noon we headed for Yvonand in the south of Lake Neuchâtel, where the wind often blows the strongest and there is a large sandy flat area where the waves break. On arrival there was already wind for the 3.7 and the sun was shining in between.
It was like being by the sea, big waves, flying water everywhere!
However, with an air temperature of less than 2 degrees, it was already freezing cold. We opted for the smallest setup and had a great session with an average wind speed of 80 km/h and gusts of over 90 km/h. From around 3 pm onwards, the wind got even stronger and we surfed almost until sunset or until we were completely exhausted from the cold. The gusts were now over 100 km/h and the water was flying! Bernie Sievi let out some massive backloops and also some heavy crashes! It was like being by the sea, big waves going over the two metre high breakwater, flying water everywhere. That evening we were more exhausted than ever before. But also happy and satisfied to have ridden the storm and to have been part of this historic day! A unique experience!"
