2023-06-05 11:00:42
The flying boats have bided their time
Geneva-Rolle almost smiled at Christian Wahl’s former D35, before a life-saving gust of wind allowed the foilers to win the day.
On Saturday, Ylliam Comptoir Immobilier soared to victory in the second part of the race.
Gregoire Surdez
The Geneva-Rolle-Geneva opens the ball of classic Lake Geneva that punctuate the season. A week before the Bol d’Or, the fleet likes to get together as much for fun as to gauge each other. The winter works have been going well and everyone is watching for the other’s novelties. On Saturday, among the 211 teams that had put their stamp on the registration sheet, several boats were particularly expected and observed.
At the stroke of 1 p.m., a very light drought allowed the whole fleet to shake off. Unable to take off, the multihulls quickly reached the height of Versoix tacking upwind at a speed fluctuating between 6 and 8 knots. The famous Lemanic light conditions were there. With a persistent heat which made the immense cumulonimbus clouds on the crest of the Jura grow bigger. With, also, windless areas like so many traps to avoid.
An ideal context to allow Christian Wahl and his old D35 to demonstrate all his know-how on the first part of the race. Lighter, more powerful, and with its straight daggerboards cutting through the water like a razor blade, W2Team took the lead, taking the lead at Rolle ahead of the pack of pursuers, TF35, M2 and other large ultra-powerful monohulls.
like tractors
The winner of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud 2022 has shown that he is in great shape, with a slightly modified crew. And that he remained a threat to the multihulls with foils which have not yet found the key when the wind is evanescent. The TF35s are racing beasts. But on the sole condition of being able to take off. Otherwise, their big T-shaped legs turn them into a tractor plowing the surface of the lake.
It was on the way back that things got back to normal, but in the end it came close. Five flying boats managed to come back to the wizard of the lake, record holder of victories at the Bol d’Or (8) and to overtake him on the line laid off the Yacht Club of Geneva. The most agile was “Yilliam Comptoir Immobilier” by Bertrand Demole, moreover the only TF35 to have already won the BOM in 2021. It is ahead of “Ylliam 17” by Julien Firmenich and “Zen Too” by Loïc Forestier. Then follow “Spindrift” by Yann Guichard and “Realteam” by Jérôme Clerc. Sixth, therefore, just over seven minutes from the winner, Christian Wahl remains the main threat to the TF35 fleet. With its 100% new-look young crew, “Alinghi Red Bull Racing” was able to measure it since it was narrowly overtaken.
In the monohulls, the lessons are also clear. Jean Psarofaghis seems to have had a good nose transforming his Psaros40 this winter. Extended to the limit of the gauge, he put his paw on victory with great control. After a cautious start, “King Jean of Lake Geneva” crunched his two main opponents of the day. Starting with “Cellmen Ardentis”, original Psaros40 by François Thorens, which could not do anything against the overpowering of “Syz”. Same observation for the superb Luthi “Katana” by Philippe de Weck which completes the podium.
Successful bet for Syz
A week before the Bol, Jean Psarofaghis seems to have won his bet. Make his monohull a competitor capable of outsmarting the Hungarians of Raffica, untouchable for several years with their Libera, a real sled requiring the presence on board of a “human” ballast of 14 people. Geneva-Rolle has once again lived up to its reputation as a BOM laboratory.
The beaten this weekend will be reassured by remembering that very often, the teams who smile on the half-lake, are rarely the same ones who pop the champagne a week later. This is also the magic of Lake Geneva which rarely offers the expected conditions.
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