Big condition opener

As Peyron finishes 5m ahead of Cammas in the first race for the D35s at the Corum Grand Prix

Today, the twelve Decision 35 catamarans set sail on their first race of the season with the start of Corum Grand Prix, first of their Challenge Julius Baer championship.

In bright sunshine, the first start was in 15 to 20 knots of wind. Veltigroup, skippered by Swiss former ORMA 60 skipper, Stève Ravussin distinguished himself by making the best start of the fleet, while Alinghi maneouvered to retrieve a crewman who had fallen overboard.

The season opener was also marked by the capsizing of Frédéric Moura's Romandie.com and the first victory of Nicolas Grange's Corum Okalys, helmed by French veteran, Loick Peyron, the team a past winner of the Bol d'Or. The battle for the lead was typically between Okalys-Corum, between Guy de Picciotto's Zen Too where was Franck Cammas helming and Alain Gautier's Foncia which finished third in today's only race.

Nicolas Grange commented: "The race was very hotly contested. We finished just 5 metres in front of Zen Too. It's been four years now since our crew started sailing together and it is certainly our experience and cohesion that have made the difference."

Franck Cammas, helm of Zen Too commented: "It is a great surprise this second place. The crew has changed enormously this season and it is good we did this well. . In these strong conditions, it was a case of managing the boat before thinking about the race. Tomorrow, we should be able to get a better measure of our competitors, because the wind will be more stable in strength and it will be more a case of pure racing. "

Other top performers were Julius Baer which finished 4th. Philippe Cardis, owner of the boat, is very pleased with the quick cohesion of his new crew. Dona Bertarelli Spaeth's Ladycat claimed fifth, significantly, ahead of her brother's SUI-6 Alinghi, skippered by Ed Baird while Ravussin's Veltigroup came home 7th.

Racing continues on Saturday and Sunday.

Results after the first day of the Grand Prix Corum

1. SUI-2-Corum Okalys 1pt
2. SUI-4 Zen Too 2pts
3. SUI-5 Foncia 3pts
4. SUI-3-Julius Baer 4pts
5. SUI-10 Ladycat 5pts
6. 6 Alinghi SUI-6 6pts
7. SUI-11 Veltigroup 7pts
8. SUI-1 Alinghi 8pts
9. SUI 9 Smarthome-9pts
10. SUI-7 Zebra 7 10pts
11. SUI-12 Banque Populaire 11pt
SUI DNF-8 Romandie.com 13pts

More photos on the following pages...