Alinghi finishes 3rd in the Bol D'Or; Cammas wins
'Zebra 7 (SUI-7) and Alinghi (SUI-1), side by side on the multihull starting line. Geneva, 14 June 2008'
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Valencia Sailing was in Geneva this weekend in order to assist for the first time ever in the Mirabaud Bol d'Or, one the most famous European races that take place in a lake.
More than a competitive race, the Bol d'Or is a sailing party, a place for everyone to share the lake, from the Sunday sailor to the America's Cup winners.
In this year's edition, more than 600 boats took part, including some innovative designs, since many see the race as a laboratory, a life-sized towing tank.
The concept of the Mirabaud Bol d'Or is very simple. All participating boats start sailing in Geneva and head north east, towards the city of Le Bouveret, situated at the other end of the lake. There are no restrictions on the course a boat might choose, with the exception of the multihulls that have to round an offset mark 3 miles from the starting line.
From that point, they are free to choose their strategy in order to reach the buoy at Le Bouveret. After rounding it they are once again completely free to devise their best strategy in order to return to Geneva and cross the finish line, off the Soci?t? Nautique de Gen?ve. The shortest distance between Geneva and Le Bouveret buoy is 66.5 nautical miles.
Up to 2 years ago, all yachts shared the same starting line but the increase in the number and competitive level of the multihul fleet forced the organization to create two different starting lines, 400 meters apart. As a result, the much faster multihulls are not obstructed by the much more crowded monohull fleet.
Our interest was obviously focused on two D35 boats, Alinghi and Zebra 7. The former doesn't ned any introduction and the latter was helmed by Franck Cammas, the French multihull specialist and consultant to BMW Oracle.
Unfortunately, Saturday's conditions were far from perfect and when the starting gun was fired at 9am, there were probably 1 or maximum 2 knots of wind. Both Alinghi and Zebra 7 had a very difficult and painful start, getting stuck in a windless trap. The first half of the race was indeed tough for both of the teams as they struggled to find win near the French coast, on the southern side of the lake.
For the rest of this story see Valencia Sailing.com
by ValenciaSailing.com
