The 2023 TF35 Trophy season has been announced, with seven events scheduled, starting on Lake Geneva in Switzerland in May and finishing in foiling paradise on Lake Garda, Italy, in mid-September.
New to the circuit for 2023 will be the TF35 Geneva Cup hosted by the prestigious Société Nautique de Genève over the 18-21 May. This will be the first time the fleet will have raced together after the long winter period, so the results for the Geneva Cup will be all to play for as the fleet gets back into TF35 mode.
Having recently celebrated their 150th anniversary the Société Nautique de Genève is home waters for TF35 defending champions and challengers to the 37th Americas Cup, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, who have been training on their AC40 BoatZero since early February.
For event two, the fleet will move up the lake to Mies for the Realstone Cup for Léman hope event. The regatta weekend will take place in two parts, with regular format windward-leeward racing on Friday 2 June and Sunday 4 June. Book ending the long-distance Geneve-Rolle-Geneve race on Saturday, 3 June.
The racing weekend will be hosted again by Esteban Garcia to raise awareness for cancer charity Léman hope which, through sailing, supports, inspires and empowers young people in recovery from cancer. For the past two seasons, skipper Jérôme Clerc and his crew on Realteam for Léman hope have been locked in a battle with closest rivals Alinghi Red Bull Racing, winning the opening season in 2021 but taking second to Alinghi by just one point overall last year.
Following the warmup Genève-Rolle-Genève, the fleet will participate in the Bol d'Or Mirabaud on 10 June, the world's largest inland lake regatta.
Breaking away from the standard championship format to race more than 500 other boats on a 123-kilometre (66.5 nautical mile) course from Geneva to Le Bouveret and back is an excellent opportunity to mix up the TF35 leader board mid-season. In 2022 French Team Sailfever helmed by Loïck Peyron was the winning boat from the TF35 fleet, with Zen too in second and in 2021, Bertrand Demole's Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier took the win.
Over the 22 - 25 June, the fleet will finish their tour of Lake Geneva with the TF35 Nyon hosted in the picturesque Swiss town by the Société Nautique de Nyon.
The TF35s will then move to Italy to end the 2023 season with back-to-back regattas on Lake Garda, hosted over the 31 - 1 August and the 14 - 17 September by the Fraglia Vela Malcesine.
Many consider Lake Garda the ideal venue to race foiling sailboats, renowned for its strong winds and flat water. The team to watch for the end of the year will be the young crew on Spindrift, helmed by Yann Guichard. Their focus and boat handling ability built noticeably in each event last season, culminating in their first TF35 regatta win in Malcesine.
As ever, events will include relaxed hospitality ashore where owners and crew can mingle to recount race stories. TF35 class manager Bertrand Favre adds: "Going into our third season of racing, we are starting to see the field of competition even out as the teams get to grips with the TF35s. The racing is sure to be intense, and ashore the sailors have all been together for so long that it is like a family. We will have a new team joining the fleet for the 2023 season, so we look forward to welcoming some new faces on the water".
2023 TF35 Trophy Calendar
18 - 21 May - TF35 Geneva Cup, Switzerland
2 + 4 June - Realstone Cup for Léman hope, Switzerland
3 June - Genève-Rolle-Genève, Switzerland
10 June - Bol d'Or Mirabaud, Switzerland
22 - 25 June - TF35 Nyon Cup, Switzerland
31 August - 3 September - Malcesine TF35 Cup 1, Italy
14 - 17 September - Malcesine TF35 Cup 2, Italy
