Ladycat powered by Spindrift Racing leading Bol d'Or Mirabaud at mid-course
by Bol d'Or Mirabaud 17 Jun 2017 13:54 BST
16-18 June 2017
Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2017 start © Nicolas Jutzi
The Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2017 is running in simply exceptional conditions, with 15-18 knots of "bise" under a radiant sun.
The favourites are in the lead: Dona Bertarelli's sailboat, Ladycat Powered by Spindrift Racing, is currently leading the show ahead of Alinghi, skippered by Arnaud Psarofaghis (in the absence of Ernesto Bertarelli) and Mobimo, skippered by Christian Wahl. Dona Bertarelli's sailboat rounded the halfway mark at 13:03.31, 7 seconds ahead of Alinghi.
The leading catamarans enjoyed a fast start to the race. The record seemingly won't be beat this year, due to wind direction and rather important wave conditions, but the tempo is nonetheless very fast.
Among the monohulls, it's no surprise that Hungarian Libera Implancentre Raffica is leading, ahead of Psaros 40 Syz & Co and "old" Taillevent, 1990s Americas Cup Class replica, which performs particularly well to windward. The game is far from over; as it's very unstable, the Libera could suffer during the downwind run to Geneva under strong wind conditions this afternoon.
Numerous accidents punctuated the beginning of the race with two monohull collisions, a torn mainsail on M2: Degroof Petercam offshore from Anières, and M2: Tradition capsizing offshore from Nernier. Abandonments by 2nd Chance are Arketype One were later announced leading to no less than 17 abandonments in total among the fleet, while thirteen competitors didn't take the start.
Note that only material damage occurred and all crewmembers are safe and sound.
For more information visit www.boldormirabaud.ch