Société Nautique de Genève celebrates Sailing and Speed
by MaxComm Communication 2 Nov 2013 09:48 GMT
31 October 2013

23.36 knots for Marc Hochmann on Lake Geneva © Jeff Hervo / Syz & Co Speed Week
Private bankers SYZ & CO are active supporters of the sport of sailing in Switzerland. In 2013, the company organised the SYZ & CO Leman Sailing Speed Records and the SYZ & CO Speed Week, in partnership with the Société Nautique de Genève. These events give speed sailing fans the opportunity to develop and test the very latest innovations and to push themselves beyond their limits. The 2013 speed awards were presented on Thursday 31st October at the Société Nautique de Genève as part of the SYZ & CO Sailors' Night.
Winners of the SYZ & CO Speed Week and SYZ & CO Leman Sailing Speed Records were presented with awards at a special event on Thursday evening at the Société Nautique de Genève. The SYZ & CO Sailors' Night is an end of season celebration that brings together Lake Geneva sailing enthusiasts.
The 2013 'Records' season was a busy one. The first to fall was the famous Ruban Bleu round Lake Geneva multihull record, held by Philippe Cardis and his Decision 35 since 2007 – it was broken this year by Daniel Schmaeh with Hydroptere.ch.
The Hydros team set a new record from Geneva to Le Bouveret and back, sailing the course in 4 hours 45 minutes and 11 seconds, knocking 10 minutes off the previous record. On a roll, the team also set the annual record for the highest speed over a kilometre (31 knots) and the highest speed over an hour (24.89 knots). The skipper Daniel Schmaeh holds the speed tests in high regard: "These competitions raise awareness and promote speed sailing in the region which helps to support the research and development of the technology in this discipline."
The Ruban Violet, which is the round Lake Geneva monohull record, was not broken this year although Nicolas Anklin had a good try at it with his boat Flow.
The SYZ & CO Speed Week brought foiling kite surfers, windsurfers, Moth and catamaran sailors together for a festival of speed from the 11 to the 13 October off the Société Nautique de Genève. Competitors sailed 500 metre speed runs and Geneva-local Marc Hochmann eventually won with his Moth with a top speed of 23.36 knots. Jean-Marc Perregaux won the windsurfing speed run reaching an average of 21.495 knots. And Jean-Richard Minardi sailed a run at 18.64 knots onboard his F18 catamaran.
SYZ & CO shows its support for Swiss sailing through these two major Speed events, as Ricardo Payro, communications director for the bank explains: "This need to be faster, to beat records, has always been a great incentive to develop new technologies that then trickle through and benefit other sailors. A desire to excel is reflected in the way that we do business and it is this that motivated us to collaborate with the SNG and to create the Geneva Speed Records."
The SYZ & CO Geneva Sailing Speed Records are available here.
SYZ & CO Speed Week results:
1. Moth International / Blackpearl - Hochmann Marc: 23.360
2. Windsurf / LoftSails - Perregaux Jean-Marc: 21.495
3. Windsurf / iSonic 53 Speed Special - Marc Jean: 20.593
SYZ & CO Geneva Sailing Speed Records:
Ruban Bleu – Record
20.08.2013 – 4 hours 45 minutes 11 seconds - l'Hydroptère.ch - D. Schmäh
Ruban Violet – Best attempt
201320.08.2013 – 10 hours 12 minutes 40 seconds - Flow - N. Anklin
Average speed over an hour – Best attempt
201320.05.2013 - 24.89 knots - L'Hydroptère.ch - D. Schmäh
Average speed over a kilometre – Best attempt
201302.06.2013 - 31.00 knots - L'Hydroptère.ch - D. Schmäh