Organized by the Société Nautique de Genève, this 27 e edition brought together 7 teams on Lake Geneva, from highly technological catamarans, the C Class.
A clear-cut qualification for Groupama Sailing Team
The first four days were dedicated to the fleet race qualifications. The first two days of qualifying were marked by changing winds â?" strong and flat. On Monday, September 14, two races were run, but with gusts to 25 knots, the race committee decided to stop the day's racing. A decision that reassured the crews, having already suffered some damage.
Steve Clark and Mike Costello, from the 2015 Cogito team, suffered a lot on this first day. The Americans capsized during the 2 e sleeve and severely damaged part of Aethon's wing.
Groupama Sailing Team put in a great performance, offering the public demonstrations of high-speed flying, with peaks of over 30 knots. Thus, they secured their first place, while taking care of their boat. Axon Racing, one of the Swiss teams, composed of Benoît Marie and Benoît Morelle, managed to pass over its broken daggerboard to take second place.
On Tuesday, unlike the day before, the teams had to wait for a breath of air to trigger the start of the fleet races around 4:30 pm. Groupama put in another great performance, retaining its first place in the rankings. Axon Racing also retained its place in the overall ranking, after a good battle with Norgador and Sentient Blue, which finished 3rd and 4th respectively es Only one race was sailed in winds rarely exceeding 5 knots.
After 6 fleet races, contested over four days, Groupama qualified to defend its title in the final against Axon Racing. The Cammas/Viat duo won one race after another between Monday and Wednesday. For second place, it was more complicated, as two Swiss teams were neck and neck. On Wednesday, only one point separated Axon Racing and Norgador.
This final also allowed to decide between the teams Norgador and Sentient Blue.
A victory obtained with flying colours
After flying over the events at the beginning of the week, Groupama Sailing Team did the same in the final race. Franck Cammas and Louis Viat thus retained their Trophy, flying on their carbon foil catamaran. The Swiss were on an "archimedean" boat (which does not fly, but glides very well).
The final took place on Friday 18 September on 2 rounds of Match Races, in a light wind. The championship stopped on this final score, because of the lack of stable wind on the Lake Geneva, on Saturday 19th.
Groupama Sailing Team had set itself the challenge of flying their C Class from 5.5 knots of wind and that it would be capable of flying at more than 3 times the wind speed. It is without doubt the most innovative competition boat in the world, experts agree.
In the small final of the Fleet Races, the Swiss team Norgador took the 3rd step of the podium just in front of the German team Sentient Blue.
