Yacht racing in slow motion

Report and photos from the start of the Bol d'Or Rolex

On a fantastic day for hot air ballooning, but with a wind so light it barely rustled flags, the Bol d’Or Rolex got off to a slow start at 0900 local time from a line spanning the width of Lake Geneva. What the start lacked in wind it made up for in spectacle with a diverse range of 550 yachts attempting to break across the line beneath a blue cloudless sky in which several hot air balloons and helicopters were hovering.

“With their celebrity crews, including Ellen MacArthur and Loick Peyron, the Decision 35 one design catamarans were among the multihull fleet at the northern end of the line, where it was only Russell Coutts at the helm of Banque Gonat that showed any sign of speed. However this may have worked against the America’s Cup skipper as he appeared to be over early. According to Alec Tournier, Secretary General of the race’s organiser the Societe Nautique de Geneve, the jury have yet to reach their verdict regarding this matter.

While the multihulls made their way slowly across to the north shore of Lake Geneva on starboard tack, so the larger monohulls in the middle of the start line inched their way on port tack towards the opposite ‘French’ shore. With less than 3 knots of wind, it was yacht racing in slow motion. They crossed ahead of the densely packed and flailing smaller monohull classes starting from the southern end of the line, heading for the shoreline crowds of spectators.

Into the ‘Petit Lac’ (before Lake Geneva broadens) the old local folklore that it pays to stay close to the north shore rather than sail the shorter course to the south, seemed to be ringing true. Half way down the Petit Lac the bulk of the fleet were still close to the south side in near non-existent wind, while a small handful of boats hugging the north shore had opened up a useful lead. Despite the elapsed time race favourites being the Decision 35s, the race on the Swiss (northern) side of the lake was being led by two of the smaller new Ventilo M2 28ft catamarans, Banque Raiffeisen and Team Seven, followed by Philippe Cardis and Francois Mordasini’s Decision 35 Ferrier Lullin.

Among the monohulls Stephen Fein’s new Full Pelt with Jo Richards at the helm was out of the leading group, alarmingly astern of their old Full Pelt, now called Full Speed and owned by French 49er Olympian Philippe Gasparini and his two brothers. The leading group of monohulls also included the slender maroon hull of Albatros and the leading Psaros 40 Syz & Co.

With such light winds, this Bol d’Or Rolex could well get the record for being the longest of recent years. As Alinghi skipper Ernesto Bertarelli put it yesterday: “No one talks about the horrible no-wind type of situation like we have seen in the past, but certainly there will be not a lot of wind and quite soft; so a lot of transitions depending upon where you are on the lake - go and look for given breeze. The Bol d’Or is a bit different from a regular windward-leeward type of race. It is more about navigation and general strategy. But we have done it on board with the team for so many years now, we have a good idea of what to do and what not to do.”