Another victory for Realstone Sailing

Jerome Clerc's crew wins D35 bout in the Genève-Rolle-Genève

Realstone Sailing carried out a faultless performance in the Genève-Rolle-Genève race (the Bol d'Or Mirabaud warm-up) taking the lead at the start of the race and never reliquishing it. Behind, the fight for the second and third place was close, but in the end it was Dona Bertarelli's Ladycat who came home second followed by Philippe Cardis on de Rham Sotheby's.

This year's Genève-Rolle-Genève was thrilling. Yet it was by no means a foregone conclusion, as the wind was very light and at times non-existent earlier in the afternoon. Nonetheless the racing was tense and the show beautiful, with over 220 boats on the line.

From the start, Realstone Sailing showed a well thought out strategy, starting to leeward of the other D35 catamarans, sliding quickly towards the Swiss coast, then smoothly dispatching their opponents downwind. Boris Lerch, steering Veltigroup, who also made a good start and kept up with the leading group.

"The strategy of our tactician Denis Girardet was excellent from start to finish," said skipper Jerome Clerc. "We made choices and we stuck with them. We did what we wanted to do, even if it seemed bold a few times. "Their course was extreme closely hugging the Swiss coast, taking advantage of the slightest zephyr. "Three or four wind transitions left us stuck at times, but it paid off!" concluded Clerc. Realstone Sailing maintained the lead throughout the race, although a few times de Rham Sotheby's, Zen Too or Ladycat came very close.

The race had two different rhythms: the first part was hard on the nerves. In light airs, it was important to observe the water and take advantage of every puff, while in the second half of the race, especially from Nyon, when the Joran wind built and increased to over 15 knots, making the race more difficult physically.

There were many sail changes on the lead boats. Behind Realstone, the battle was intense. De Rham Sotheby's held the second position throughout the race, closely followed by Zen Too helmed by Fred Le Peutrec. From Nyon, the situation got more intense, with Veltigroup and Ladycat joining the leading group from the back. After a strong fight, Ladycat crossed the line in second, closely followed by de Rham Sotheby's, Zen Too and Veltigroup. As for Artemis and Alinghi, they did some match racing in the end. Nickel arrived just after.

Okalys-Corum, who made a great start, unfortunately made a tactical mistake in choosing the French side on the way to Rolle. There they remained glued and could no longer come back into the race. Then on the return to Geneva, they dismasted, but no one was hurt and there was no other damage to the boat,.

D35 results Genève-Rolle-Genève:
1. Realstone Sailing (J. Clerc)
2. Ladyca (D. Bertarelli)
3. de Rham - Sotheby's (Ph. Cardis)
4. Zen Too (F. Le Peutrec - G. de Picciotto)
5. Veltigroup (B. Lerch - M. Simeoni)
6. Artemis Racing (P. Cayard - T. Tornqvist)
7. Alinghi (E. Bertarelli)
8. Nickel (F. Moura)
DNF Okalys-Corum (N. Grange)