It's become one of our most popular hobbies, especially during the hot weather, but those going paddleboarding need to take care when they go out on the water. One paddleboarder died after a group of paddleboarders got into difficulty at Conwy Morfa beach on Thursday, July 14. Read more here. It follows four paddleboard deaths last October.
As well as the five people who have lost their lives, scores of others have had to be rescued by the emergency services. Some 26 paddleboarders had to be saved over just one weekend including one teenage girl swept nearly a kilometre out to sea. With soaring temperatures and offshore winds, Tenby RNLI lifeguards were called out to eight separate incidents involving paddleboards during one weekend. Further up the coastline, in St Davids, the RNLI were called out to rescue a group of 16 paddleboarders who'd got into difficulty off the southwest corner of Ramsey Island. And in Pwllheli, two female paddleboarders had to be towed to safety by a passing boat.
The proliferation of paddleboarding in recent years means it's virtually impossible to visit a beach and not see people enjoying the seemingly peaceful and tranquil activity, an image pushed heavily by social media. In fact, it's one of the fastest-growing water sports in the UK. But it's very easy for people to be blown out to sea, especially when there's an offshore wind, and to find themselves in difficulty, says one Welsh instructor. Lifeboat launches to paddleboard incidents rose by 64% between 2020 and 2021. And in 2021, RNLI lifeguards responded to 504 paddleboard incidents compared to 217 the previous year.
