Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing wins the 2014 Bol d'Or Mirabaud

Ladycat powered by Spindrift win the Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2014 © Chris Schmid

Ladycat powered by Spindrift win the Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2014 © Chris Schmid

Ladycat powered by Spindrift win the Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2014 © Chris Schmid

Skipper Dona Bertarelli, Yann Guichard and the crew of Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing, won a thrilling victory on Saturday in the 76th edition of the Bol d'Or on Lake Geneva, leading home the 518 boats entered. It is a magnificent triumph for the Spindrift racing team and its partners Mirabaud, Genes-x and Zenith and a second great feat for Bertarelli, following her first win in the Bol d'Or in 2010.

Tension, concentration, suspense, attack, audacity, victory and joy were just some of the words uttered by the Ladycat crew on their arrival at the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), where the wind was still blowing around 25 knots. That gives some idea of the conditions Ladycat encountered for this express return journey across Lake Geneva in 5 hours and 38 minutes, the second fastest time in the history of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud.

The 500 boats began in challenging conditions, crossing the startline of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud on Saturday morning at 1000hrs (French time) in 20 knots of wind. In the middle of the fleet, the 11 D35 one-designs, prepped and ready for battle, put a reef in the mainsail. After a cautious start, Ladycat quickly found itself among the D35 fleet. "The strategy was to stay in contact with our competitors and not to take extreme options, so that we could seize every opportunity and keep some cards up our sleeve," Bertarelli explained. The first part of the race was long and difficult with an upwind climb and lots of manoeuvres and transitions to manage, as Yann Guichard reports: "We suffered a bit upwind," he said. "We made the choice to set the boat up for very windy conditions and we didn't benefit from this option for the first few miles. The goal was still to be in the leading pack at the halfway mark and we managed to take the lead 150 metres from Bouveret."

After the first sprint, the wind dropped a bit. "We knew the wind was going to soften at the halfway point and that it would return again strongly ahead of us. We had options in terms of the choice of sail so we could better anticipate the last part (of the race), which always promised to be tough." Christophe Espagnon said. There wasno rest for the Ladycat crew, who went into this this final section of this course, elbow to elbow with Realstone and Veltigroup and touching speeds of 25 knots. "In the end, it really hotted up, we were at full speed in a neck-and-neck finish with Realstone and Veltigroup," Espagnon said. "We managed to overtake them 300 metres from the finish line and they finished 50 metres behind us, so there was suspense until the very end. We had a good strategy and really great teamwork. We had made some configuration choices on the boat (with the sails and settings) and they paid off. This is the first time I have won the Bol d'Or Mirabaud. This is for me a legendary race, an event that I dreamed of winning one day in my career. I'm so happy."

At the end of 66.5 miles covered in 5 hours and 38 minutes, the D35 Ladycat and the 5 crew members, crossed the finish line of the illustrious Bol d'Or Mirabaud as winners ahead of Realstone and Alinghi, who made up the podium. "We were very focused throughout the race because the conditions were really difficult and we were always on the attack and so racing on a knife-edge the whole time," Bertarelli said. "I'm very proud of my team who sailed well from start to finish. It's also an enormous pleasure to win the 76th Bol d'Or and the race for the second time. This edition has a special flavour because Ladycat is wearing the colours of Mirabaud. I'm proud and excited to share this victory with all my partners, Mirabaud, Genes- x and Zenith. Now we have to win the next edition because to keep the Bol d'Or forever you have to win the race 3 times in 5 years."

Congratulations to Dona, Yann, Jacques, Christophe, Xavier and Francois for this outstanding performance and for doing the double by winning the D35 class and the race.

They said:

"Thank you Dona, Yann and all the Spindrift racing team for fulfilling the dream which we have all had since the beginning of our partnership. I hope this victory heralds more great success to come. I know that at Mirabaud we believe in them." Antonio Palma, Partner at Mirabaud.

"Zenith is particularly proud of winning the Bol d'Or Mirabaud for the second consecutive year, this time alongside Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing. We are happy to celebrate this new partnership with the victory of a crew who gave a brilliant demonstration of its talents after a very close and exciting race." Juliette North, director of Marketing and Communication at Zenith.

"Genes-x is extremely proud of the wonderful performance today by Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing. By winning the Bol d'Or Mirabaud, the crew demonstrated their professionalism and their ambition for this season." Fabio Cavalli, CEO and founder of Genes-x.

Second place for Realteam at Swiss Bol d'Or (from Realteam Sailing)

The Realteam Decision 35 crossed the Bol d'Or finish line after a 5 hour, 41 minute and 24 second race against some of the giants of Swiss sailing on Saturday. Ladycat powered by Spindrift Racing won the 76th edition and Alinghi completed the podium behind Realteam, in third place. This excellent result reinforces Realteam's second place overall on the Vulcain Trophy Decision 35 season championship leader board as the fleet reaches the season halfway mark.

Realteam, led by Jerome Clerc, crossed the Bol d'Or finish line at 15:41 on Saturday afternoon, just three minutes behind Ladycat powered by Spindrift. Conditions for the Lake Classic were superb with 15 knots for the leg up to Le Bouveret and up to 25 knots on the return to Geneva.

The Realteam crew established themselves at the front of the fleet right off the start line at 10:00 along with Alinghi and Mobimo.

"We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves," said skipper Jerome Clerc back ashore. "It was a magnificent Bol d'Or! The race was won on the first leg, off Lausanne, when the transition between the 'Bise' and the 'Rabat' (a thermal) was very difficult to manage," he described.

So difficult in fact that the fleet came to an almost total stop for an hour testing the navigators' nerves to the hilt. "We thought that the 'Bise' would dominate but the thermal filled in and that paid off for Ladycat and Veltigroup out in the middle of the Lake, first," he went on.

Unable to catch the leaders after this turning point in the race, Realteam stayed focussed and continued to push hard to finish in second place overall (Veltigroup received a penalty). "Even though it was pretty windy, it wasn't that physically challenging as there weren't many manoeuvres during the race," described Jerome.

With three consecutive Decision 35 podium finishes, this result is all the more important as it counts for points towards the Vulcain Trophy, the D35 annual championship. With four events behind them and four to go, the Bol d'Or heralds the halfway mark of the Decision 35 season. Alinghi is currently holding the top spot on the leader board while Realteam is in second place overall going into the second phase. "We are very happy with this result going into the next round. We have everything to play for in the second half!" declared Jerome.

But first, Realteam will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on Saturday for Act 4 of the Extreme Sailing Series.