Piranha Wing & Windsurf Club

Piranha Wing & Windsurf Club (the Piranha Windsurfclub association) has brought together windsurfers, wingfoilers and stand-up paddlers in Biel/Bienne – Nidau, at the north-east end of Lake Biel, since 1979. Its website is in German and French.

Its stated aim is simple: to get members on the water, which means giving them somewhere to store their gear close to the lake. The club rents out yearly spaces for boards, sails, wings and SUPs in a boat hall in Nidau, Schloss-Strasse 19, about 200 m from the shore where members launch, between the Barkenhafen harbour and the Hundemätteli beach. A larger area was fitted out there on 21 October 2023, which made more spaces available. Members get into the clubhouse with a key issued against a deposit.

Members are alerted through a WhatsApp group when others are heading out, so they can sail together. The website mentions no lessons or equipment rental, and the club has no kitesurfing activity.

No opening hours are published: members let themselves into the clubhouse with their key and arrange sessions through the club's WhatsApp group.

Clubhouse rules: each member uses only the spaces assigned to them, labels their gear with their name and reports any change of contact details; unclaimed gear is dated and, after a year, disposed of or sold for the club's benefit. The club accepts no liability for members' personal equipment.

For SUP, the club recalls the Swiss rules: a buoyancy aid must be carried more than 300 m from the shore and on rivers, an all-round light is required at night, the yellow buoys of swimming areas must be respected, and paddlers must head for the shore when a storm warning is on (lights flashing 40 times a minute for a caution warning, 90 times for a storm warning).

Contact by email or through the website form; no phone number is published.