News

Five from five on opening day of last D35 GP

22 September, 2017

Alinghi had a faultless day on this, the opening of last D35 Grand Prix of the season – with five wins from the day’s five races, it was impossible to have had better results and Ernesto Bertarelli, who was at the helm, could not wished for a better birthday! Nicolas Charbonnier, the team’s tactician, was delighted: "It is certainly fair to say that we have had a great day. We had to wait for the wind for a while, but eventually we were able to race in 7-10 knots breeze all afternoon. Our starts were good throughout, with us sailing on the right side of the course every time. In addition to that, we had a great speed, with everyone working well together onboard. It was an ideal day, the sort you dream of when you get up in the morning to race." Nils Frei, the headsail trimmer, was also very pleased with the day’s racing: "We had conditions that were unexpectedly good. The weather forecast was rather unfavourable, but then we got a nice Séchard that was not really predicted. In the end, the conditions were perfect. We sailed under code zero (the larger of the two upwind sails), and « flew » (sailed with only one hull touching the water) all along. We managed to get the boat really going by finding the right balance between the front and the rear." For the end-of-day video recap with Nico and Nils (in French), just click here. The denouement of this, the eighth and final stage of the D35 Trophy, will take place tomorrow between 11h30 and 16h30 on the lake opposite the Société Nautique de Genève. Closing Grand Prix in SNG - Overall standings after five races (the worst score being discarded) : 1 - Alinghi: 4 points 2 - Ylliam Comptoir Immobilier: 10 points  3 - Mobimo: 17 points 4 - Realteam: 18 points 5 - Swisscom: 19 points 6 - Okalys: 20 points 7 - Racing Django: 21 points 8 - Zen Too: 23 points 9 - Phaedo2 : 32 points To find out more d35trophy.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #D35Trophy If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Photo credits: Loris von Siebenthal

Alinghi D35 GP in Crans: Windy and rainy, tiring but leading

9 September, 2017

In Formula 1, the tyres are changed when it's raining. In sailing, it's just the crew's clothes that change. Remember, as long as there is wind, a sailor is happy! After two races yesterday, five races were held today in a steady wind that tested the physicality of the 54 sailors competing in the Alinghi Grand Prix in Crans-près-Céligny. After a great start to the regatta (a 2nd, three 1st place and a 3rd), Alinghi finished the day with two relatively disappointing results. Ylliam-Comptoir Immobilier took the opportunity to draw level in the overall points position. Six points behind lie Zen Too, with Racing Django a point further back. Nils Frei, headsail trimmer, summed up the day: "The wind blew continuously between 11 and 18 knots. In a D35, that's hard work. We sailed with a reef in the main for four of the five races. We started the day very well with two wins without a worry. But then, in a more shifty wind, which is typical with the South-West, we experienced many changes in the wind direction, which challenged us and forced us on the back foot. As a result, we are no longer leading alone, but with the tiebreaker rules in place we are at an advantage to Ylliam, having won more races than them By the way, to practice your French and learn what the word « empannage » means (« gybe » in English), we attempt to explain it at the end of the day interview with Nils and Coraline. The finale of the Grand Prix Alinghi will be taking place tomorrow between 11:30 and 16:00 on the Lake, in front of the Club Nautique de Crans. Alinghi Grand Prix in Crans-près-Céligny - Overall standings after seven races (the worst score being discarded) : 1 - Alinghi: 13 points 2 - Ylliam comptoir Immobilier: 13 points  3 - Zen Too : 19 points 4 - Racing Django: 20 points 5 - Realteam: 27 points 7 - Mobimo: 39 points 8 - Okalys : 40 points 9 - Phaedo2 : 42 points To find out more d35trophy.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #D35Trophy If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Photo credits: Loris von Siebenthal

Alinghi wins and consolidates its pole position in the D35

3 September, 2017

The red-white-and black Lac Leman multihull is entering the second half of the season in great and beautiful form, securing today, after the summer break, a victory in the sixth stage of the 2017 D35 Trophy, which was organised by the Geneva Yacht Club. Having recorded two race wins and two second places, the team dominated amidst various wind ranges.  Special mention must go to the young Arnaud Grange (15 years of age), who was at the helm of Okalys. He and his crew recorded a superb second place, while Zen Too occupied the third step of the podium. Ernesto Bertarelli said: "I was unable to be onboard for the Bol d'Or Mirabaud and the GC32 events this summer. It’s therefore really satisfying to be here, to find a team at the top of its form and to achieve such a good result." For Nils Frei, who spent his summer on the GC32 in the Extreme Sailing Series, returning to the D35 required some adaptation in terms of way of sailing: "The sails are a little bigger than the GC32, so there's more effort, but less maneuvering around the marks. There’s some compensation, though. To have this weekend’s result, however, we’ve got to say that the transition from one boat to another went rather well!" There is now a few days of rest for the team before they return to the lake for Act 7 of the D35 Trophy in the Alinghi Grand Prix of Crans-Près-Céligny (from 8 to 10 September).   Overall standings from Act 6 – Open du Yacht Club : 1st - Alinghi: 4 points 2nd - Okalys: 8 points  3rd - Zen Too: 10 points 4th - Ylliam Comptoir Immobilier: 11 points 5th - Racing Django: 13 points Click here for more results and the overall standings of the Championship after six Acts. Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #D35Trophy To find out more d35trophy.com If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Photo credits: Alinghi

Genève-Rolle-Genève: 2nd by 1 second!

10 June, 2017

The race committee had to resort to photo-finish to determine the winner of the 2017 Genève-Rolle-Genève, today on the Lake. Alinghi, who led the race virtually from start to finish, finished second in the final, just 20cm behind Swisscom. The nerves of the sailors were put to the test this afternoon, at this, the 53rd edition of the first of the two Lake Geneva season classics. Alinghi sailed a great race, staying ahead of their opponents, on the most part. Swisscom, nevertheless, pipped them to the line, thanks to some bold manoeuvres in the last few metres. "Overall, we are happy," said Nils Frei, shortly after crossing the finish line. "It was a real lake race, with turnarounds, little pressures here and there that we had to try to manage. We had a little concern about our timing at the start, we were not quite on it, but after that we were in the game, and we managed to cope very well with the changing wind." Tactician Nicolas Charbonnier believes he has aged ten years, so intense was the stress: "It was a beautiful Lake Geneva regatta with a few things, many of them tricky, for us to deal with. But we sailed well and I didn’t have to go up the rig to look for the wind pressure. Indeed, when sometimes we had no more wind, there was none anywhere! We just had to be patient.” Arnaud Psarofaghis also noted the stress of the race: "We did not have easy choices, and we did not always agree, but in the end we came together, correctly, and, up until the end, it was a very good fight with Swisscom." Yves Detrey, who is not known for being a big fan of long races, observed: "It's really tiring, not physically, but mentally. Decisions do not necessarily pay off right away; you have to wait and see how they will play out, which is really tough on the nerves. In addition, we had to be careful of the depth as we were often looking for local wind effects very close to shore. With a draft of 2.6m, we obviously don't want to run aground. Pierre-Yves Jorand commented: "We finished second just by one second, which was determined by the last little shift at the entrance mark. Swisscom had a good race, they put us under constant pressure all the way back to Geneva, and they managed to slip their bow just before the line. The race committee did a good job, watching and watching again the videos to finally declare them the winner by a few inches. The approach to these long races has changed over the last five or six years. Now, it is a race in which contact is permanent. Sailors do not take unnecessary risks and so the finishes are even tighter." Click here to watch the live rounding in Rolle with João's commentaries. To watch the finish and the comments of the crew straight after crossing the line, click here. Pour revoir l'arrivée serrée et les commentaires à bord et à chaud, juste après avoir coupé la ligne, click here. And for Pierre-Yves' analysis, click here. After two long days of competition (six races on Friday for the first day of the 3rd Grand Prix of the season and the "Genève-Rolle" this day), the team will rest for a night so that they might aim for a victory on the final day of the Realstone Grand Prix of Versoix tomorrow. Top 5 - Genève-Rolle-Genève : 1st - D35 Swisscom (5h41'13'') 2nd - D35 Alinghi (5h41'14'') 3rd - D35 Mobimo (5h46'26'') 4th - Ventilo M1 Safram (5h53'52'') 5th - D35 Ladycat Powered by Spindrift (6h01'06'') To find out more www.ycg.ch/geneve-rolle-geneve-2017 If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Credit for photos © EP Medias & Alinghi

A complicated day, but still in contention

9 June, 2017

Alinghi finished the first day of the Realstone Grand Prix in third place, five points behind the leader Ylliam - Comptoir Immobilier. The race committee were successful in launching six races between 15:30 and 19:00, taking advantage of the western flow of 9 to 13 knots of wind. The team’s famous black, white and red multihull did not shine in quite the way that it had in the season’s previous races, with a premature start and tricky conditions being just two of the factors that the crew, who described the day as difficult, had to deal with. "Things were not easy," said Yves Detrey. "We had a bit of trouble finding the right trajectories, taking the right shifts (reading the wind), so it's not a memorable day in terms of performance. There is not much difference in points between us and the race leader, and we are third in the provisional standings tonight. We will have Sunday's races to fix things and to get back on track.” The schedule for Saturday is one that is absolutely synonymous with classic Lake Geneva racing, with a start time for 13:00 no matter which wind conditions. Asked about his view about the racing tomorrow - the Genève-Rolle-Genève, the first of the two major D35 Trophy races taking place - Alinghi's bowman pointed out that a capricious weather could be expected: "It's going to be a long race of light wind, but we're used to it." Follow this link to watch Yves's interview. General standings after 6 races (the worst score being discarded): 1st - Ylliam-Comptoir Immobilier : 2-2-2-6-2-1 = 9 points 2nd - Swisscom : 4-3-4-2-1-2 = 12 points  3rd - Alinghi : 1-5-3-4-3-3 = 14 points 4th - Realteam : 7-6-1-3-4-9 = 21 points 5th - Racing Django : 5-4-5-1-8-8 = 23 points Find all the results at: http://d35trophy.com   Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #D35Trophy If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Credit for photos © Loris Von Siebenthal

An almost faultless display

20 May, 2017

Having won the opening round of the 2017 D35 Trophy, Alinghi headed into the Open de Versoix full of confidence. On Day 1, the wind had nearly refused to play ball, with the result that only one race could be run. In that race, however, the team managed to dominate. Having started on the port side and found the breeze before the rest of the fleet, Alinghi crossed all of their competitors and secured the win having been in front throughout. That form continued today on Day 2, with a display from which the team can take great pride and pleasure. The day’s first race, saw the team’s tactics pay off, securing a second win in a row. That was something – narrowly - not to be repeated in the next race, but a commendable second-place finish was followed by another first in the third race of the day. The only slight blot on the copybook was the last race of the day, in which the team made some mistakes. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic day for Alinghi, who lead the fleet conveniently heading into tomorrow’s final day of this Grand Prix and who will approach it looking to make it two victories from two. Allez Alinghi! Results after day 2 Alinghi: 5 points Mobimo: 11 points Zen Too: 15 points Ylliam Comptoir Immobilier : 16 points Okalys: 16 points Swisscom: 17 points Racing Django: 18 points Realteam: 24 points To find out more d35trophy.com If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. #GoAlinghiGo