BOM_2009

075
Guy de Picciotto’s D35 skippered by Stève Ravussin that was the most skilful in this delicate exercise,
taking the lead from the moment he crossed the line. Philippe Cardis’ Julius Baer and Jean-François
Demole’s Cadence also managed pretty well, hot on the heels of the Vaudois skipper. Okalys,
the title holder, quickly got into the swing of things and took second place while Alinghi and
Ladycat, the Bertarelli family’s two boats remained hopelessly glued to the spot, obliged to watch
the show from afar. The rest of the multi fleet took turns more or less successfully.
A FEEBLE NORTHERLY WIND
For the monohulls, the overcrowded starting line made for a difficult beginning. A boat had to be
long and with a lot of sail to extract itself from the pack. The wavelets and windless pockets created
by the mass of sailing boats did not simplify matters for the competitors. Because the 18ft long
Mirabaud LX is so light, it got away pretty well. The dinghies sailed calmly along the right bank.
The big boats like Digital BDO and the Psaros 40s also took to the Swiss side, leaving behind the other
boats, still looking for fresh wind. But the light northerly wind didn’t lose time in making its presence
felt and the head of the fleet distanced itself from the rest of the crowd. It soon became obvious that
the small craft were not going to be taking part in the same race as the fast sailing boats.
While the leaders, still led by Zen Too, continued on course for the Valais, the majority of the
competitors were tacking, with difficulty, in the petit lac. The Swiss side of the lake was obviously
the right choice in this case and the multihulls were making good progress off Lausanne.
The wind seemed to have settled relatively evenly over the lake: for a time, priority had to be
given to speed above all other tactical or strategic considerations.
Zen Too rounded le Bouveret at 2pm leading the D35s ahead of Foncia and Smart Home, which
were keeping the pressure on. Julius Baer, Zebra 7, Cadence and Okalys were close on the heels of
this first group, while Romandie.com, Alinghi and Ladycat were still far behind at the halfway mark.
An hour after the multihulls, the first monohulls were already appearing at the head of the
lake and Oyster Funds was leading the pack, in front of the British Full Pelt and Digital BDO.
As expected, the smallest craft were to pass much later. The first Toucan Enaile arrived at the
barge at 4.30pm, the first Grand Surprise Carolive Too at 6pm and the first Surprise Tarangau at
7.47pm. The night looked long for these last ones.
MOUSEHOLES
Even though the Bol d’Or fleet was scattered all over the lake, victory was being decided in the
middle of the afternoon. The leaders were becalmed off Evian and saw their hopes of victory
disappear in just a few minutes. Franck Cammas, on board Zebra 7, took advantage of the situation,
skirting around and overtaking the fleet in a steady wind close to the Swiss shoreline,
near Morges. Alinghi also slid into this mousehole, making its return as a potential winner.
Zebra 7 continued its recovery and entered the petit lac in the lead, having avoided any lulls
with disconcerting dexterity. It was the inevitable winner. At the same time, Christophe Stamm
and Bertrand Geiser’s Ventilo M2, Team Parmigiani, with Michel Vaucher at the helm, managed
a coup de théâtre by weaving its way through the flurries right under the Décision 35s’ noses.
The small orange cat took second place in the scratch race, just three minutes ahead of Alinghi.
In the monohull category, the Psaros 40, Oyster Funds, with Xavier Lambert at the helm,
won over Digital BDO and Taillevent. The most represented class of the race was the Surprise
with Sébastien Galliano’s Tarangau winning it. He was followed by Marieflo and Fou du Vent,
sailed remarkably well by young talent from the Versoix sailing club.
In the Grand Surprise class, Mark Borter took first place with Little Nemo, ahead of Morpho and
Carolive Too. It was not possible to oust Yves Tournier’s Toucan, Enaile, which won its class followed
by Bis and Atalante. The last boat to qualify was Sea Cloud, which crossed the finish line at 3.21pm
ahead of other boats but it had a 60 minute penalty which relegated it to last place in the ranking.
In the end, 313 competitors finished (204 withdrawals and 2 disqualifications) out of the 519
starters (527 registered): regular figures for a moderately windy Bol d’Or Mirabaud.