The kids comeback

Realstone Sailing claims the D35's Open de Crans

After a Saturday with no wind at the D35's Open de Crans on Lake Geneva, Sunday offered some great sailing with five races sailed and victory going to Realstone Sailing ahead of Artemis Racing, skippered on this occasion by Michel Desjoyeaux and Philippe Cardis' de Rham Sotheby's.

Sailing stars were out in force at the Open de Crans, part of the Vulcain Trophy presented by Business & Decision this year. In addition to  Desjoyeaux, the double Vendee Globe winner, steering Artemis Racing alongside Yvan Ravussin, Nicolas Charbonnier, the 470 bronze medallist in Beijing, was at the helm of Alinghi (replacing Ernesto Bertarelli). Fred Le Peutrec was at the helm of Zen Too and Okalys welcomed Jean-Christophe Mourniac as tactician, Eric Monnin being busy on the World Match Racing Tour. But it was 'the kids' on Realstone Sailing (a Regatta Training Center in Geneva) with Jerome Clerc at the helm that won the event winning three races of today's five.

"We wanted to get our revenge after the Grand Prix Les Ambassadeurs [where Realstone had finished level on points but second behind Alinghi on countback)," said Clerc. "The pressure has been rising today. We knew we had few races to make the difference and the light breeze was a challenge too. Also with opponents like Michel Desjoyeaux or Nicolas Charbonnier, we are even happier with this win!"

The fight for second was also interesting. Michel Desjoyeaux said: "The day was fabulous! I was very doubtful this morning, especially after yesterday, but in the end we had a fantastic day and the wind conditions left the game very open. However I have to say that Realstone Sailing is really above the rest of the fleet!"

De Rham Sotheby's took a great third place. Skipper Philippe Cardis commented: "We are fortunate to have a very good tactician: Christian Wahl is really a magician of the lake, even when we did stupid things, he managed to catch them by a remarkable tactics."

The next event on the Vulcain Trophy is a double event to be held the weekend of 8-10 June, with the Open de Versoix on Friday and Sunday, and the Genève-Rolle-Genève on the Saturday, typically a rehearsal of the highlight of the season, the Bol d'Or Mirabaud on 16 June. The D35 catamarans will therefore be among themselves on Friday and Sunday in Versoix, but then, they will join a fleet of several hundred boats in the latter event.

Results Open de Crans:
1. Realstone Sailing (Jérôme Clerc) - 5 pts
2. Artemis Racing (Michel Desjoyeaux) - 10 pts
3. De Rham Sotheby's (Philippe Cardis) - 11 pts
4. Alinghi (Nicolas Charbonnier) - 12 pts
5. Okalys - Corum (Nicolas Grange) - 13 pts
6. Veltigroup (Boris Lerch) - 25 pts
7. Ladycat (Dona Bertarelli) - 26 pts
8. Nickel (Fred Moura) - 28 pts
9. Zen Too (Fred Le Peutrec) - 35 pts

Overall results after two events:
1. Realstone Sailing (Jérôme Clerc) - 3 pts
2. Alinghi (Ernesto Bertarelli) - 5pts
3. Artemis Racing (Torbjorn Tornqvist) - 5 pts
4. De Rham Sotheby's (Philippe Cardis) - 8 pts
5. Ladycat (Dona Bertarelli) - 11 pts
6. Okalys -Corum (Nicolas Grange) - 12 pts
7. Zen Too (De Picciotto - LePeutrec) - 15 pts
8. Veltigroup (Simeoni-Lerch) - 15 pts
9. Nickel (Fred Moura) - 16 pts