Two events in one weekend for Alinghi
by Alinghi 7 Jun 2021 13:22 BST
We could have summed up Alinghi's last three days in a short sentence: two events in one weekend, two second places. But such a review would be incomplete without detailing the very first long classic race involving the TF35s (and won by a TF35) and the wild scenes produced shortly after the start of the Genève-Rolle-Genève.
It would also be remiss not to mention the remarkable performance of Arnaud Psarofaghis, who took part as interim skipper of the New Zealand team engaged on the international SailGP circuit. After only a few hours of getting to grips with the 50-foot foiler, our co-skipper made a promising start in Italy and led their team to the gates of the final.
But first, let's come back to Switzerland with Yves Detrey for the third grand prix of the season, run over two days because of the Genève-Rolle on Saturday: "After taking the advantage in the five races on Friday, we are a little disappointed with our performance this Sunday. The wind was not as forecast and only allowed for two races, where we keep making mistakes.
"Finishing second in a grand prix is not the result we are aiming for, but day after day the general level of the fleet is rising. There are very good sailors on board each boat, who know how to take advantage of sailing alongside Realteam and us, who had a small lead. One thing is certain: it will be tough until the end of the season."
Realteam wins this stage, Zoulou takes third place.
Podium for the Grand Prix de Mies after seven races (the worst score being removed from four races validated):
- 1st - Realteam: 11 points
- 2nd - Alinghi: 14 points
- 3rd - Zoulou: 17 points
See all the rankings here
Florian Trüb: "It's great to be on board the TF35 in competition. We did our best in this new configuration without Arnaud. The conditions were not easy, especially on Saturday during the long race with small clouds of rain randomly bringing wind from the right and left. Anyway, it's good to be back on a foiler!"
He continues about the "cold sweats" episode: "Just after the start of the Genève-Rolle, we suffered a big gust that surprised us with its strength. At that precise moment, there were four of us in the middle of the boat to furl the gennaker. We quickly climbed the nets to counterbalance! It was hot and we narrowly avoided capsizing the boat."
Bryan Mettraux continues, talking about the key moments in this 56th Genève-Rolle-Genève: "We waited quite a bit for the expected wind, especially on the outward journey. There wasn't much of a gap at the beginning. With the wind coming in from behind, the TF35, D35 and M2 were fairly aligned.
"We rounded Rolle's mark in second position, 20 seconds behind Realteam. At the end of Rolle, we sailed really well and we took the lead. Then it became impossible for us to control all our competitors, and the width of the lake gives the teams many options! Ylliam and Zoulou (even though Zoulou were last at the Rolle mark) passed us by. We regained ground over the last two miles and we managed to gain a place to finish second. Obviously, we would have preferred to win, but we are happy with this result and the way the boat behaved against the D35 in light winds."
Zoulou, led by Erik Maris, signs for a nice victory, Spindrift completes the podium, while Realteam, our direct competitor, finished sixth.
Podium for the Genève-Rolle-Genève
- 1st - Zoulou: 3:27:33
- 2nd - Alinghi: 3:29:51
- 3rd - Spindrift: 3:30:47
See full ranking here
Note that the rankings of the two major races (Genève-Rolle and the Bol d'Or) will be added together to count as a single race. The result at the Bol d'Or will act as a decider in the event of a tie. We will therefore have to wait another week for the announcement of the provisional general classification for the first part of the season.
See you at 10am on Saturday June 12 for the start of the 82nd Bol d'or Mirabaud!