Decision 35 Vulcain Trophy - Genève-Rolle-Genève

Realstone Sailing wins the Genève-Rolle-Genève race © Pierre Menoux

Realstone dominates

The Kids of Realstone Sailing did a faultless performance on the course of the Genève-Rolle-Genève race taking the lead at the start of the race and never letting it go. Behind, the fight for the second and third place was close, but Dona Bertarelli on Ladycat finished in second position followed by Philippe Cardis on de Rham Sotheby's.

This edition of the Genève-Rolle-Genève was thrilling. Yet it was not a foregone conclusion, as the wind was very low or nonexistent in some places earlier this afternoon. Nobody could have predicted such an exciting racing. Still the show was beautiful, with over 220 boats on the line, at the start of this legendary race, known to be the prologue of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud - which takes place next weekend.

From the start, Realstone Sailing showed a well thought out strategy, with a departure rather to leeward of the D35 fleet, sliding quickly towards the Swiss coast, smoothly "crushing" his opponents downwind. Note also a beautiful start of Boris Lerch, steering Veltigroup, who also made a remarkable race in the leading group. Let’s come back to the performance of the Kids of Realstone: "The strategy of our tactician Denis Girardet was excellent from start to finish. We have made choices and we have sticked with them. We did what we wanted to do, even if it seemed bold a few times", says Jerome Clerc which refers to a quite extreme course, always a few meters from the Swiss coast, taking advantage of the slightest breath. "Three or four wind transitions left us somewhat "glued" at times, but it paid off!" Indeed Realstone crew has always kept the lead in the race, although a few times de Rham Sotheby's, Zen Too or Ladycat came very near.

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 up and blew to over 15 knots, the race became more difficult physically. It was noted many sail changes on the leading 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 even more intense, with Veltigroup and Ladycat joining the leading group from the back. After a strong fight, Ladycat cut the line in second position, 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 came just after.

Okalys-Corum, who made a great start, unfortunately made a tactical mistake choosing the "French side" on the way to Rolle. There they remained glued and could no longer come back in the race. On the return to Geneva, they dismasted, but deplore no wounded or breakage on the boat, except for the mast. Nicolas Grange's boat should be on the starting line of the second day of the Open de Versoix tomorrow. See you at 11 am in Versoix or follow us on the website!

Ranking 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)

The complete results on www.vulcaintrophy.com