Held in the beautiful grounds of the Firmenich family’s lakeside residence in Genthod, near Versoix on Lake Geneva, it was appropriate that, on the opening day of the TF35 Mailly Grand Prix, host Julien Firmenich’s Ylliam 17 was the standout team, with two wins from three races sailed.
“As hosts, you know it's important for us to be present on the race course, so today was a good day for us,” Firmenich explained straight after racing. “We started late in the afternoon, when we could finally race with steady wind and foiling starts, which are really the best conditions for these boats, and with the setting sun it was beautiful. Strong starts, good upwinds and some nice manoeuvres gave us two good race wins, which is a nice start to the event.”
It took until 16:50 for the opening race of the regatta to get underway in seven knots of breeze. Firmenich and his crew, directed by tactician Guillaume Rol, timed their start well mid-line and took off to the left side of the race course, chased by Zen Too and Sails of Change 10. The only team to hold on all the way to the port layline, the breakaway paid off for Ylliam 17 and she crossed ahead of the fleet to round the windward gate in the lead. From here she was able to extend away until the finish, when she was almost caught in the final moments by second-placed Realteam Spirit, with Sails of Change 8 taking third.
A little too eager to repeat their performance for Race 2, Ylliam 17 was called OCS. Realteam Spirit, in turn, got the best start from the pin end of the start line and, in clear air, stretched their legs and extended away, helm Jérôme Clerc and his crew leading the fleet all the way to the finish unchallenged. Behind, a photo finish saw Zen Too take second and Sails of Change 8 third.
For the final race of the day, the wind was up to 10 knots and this compressed the fleet significantly up the first beat. At the first windward gate it was Bertrand Demole’s Ylliam XII – Comptoir Immobilier that popped out ahead of Ylliam 17. Downwind, the home team were chasing hard and were able to roll Ylliam XII – Comptoir Immobilier and take the lead metres before the leeward gate. On the final downwind, Realteam Spirit and Sails of Change 10 were trying to bridge the gap but couldn't catch the leading pair.
In the overnight standings, Ylliam 17 leads the fleet on six points, level with second-placed Realteam Spirit.
“It’s very encouraging. It shows that the work we did over the summer analysing our performance is paying off,” explains Realteam Spirit headsail trimmer Benjamin Amiot. “We’re happy, we’re enjoying ourselves on the water, so naturally, it’s a great way to start a Grand Prix. There are always little things we can improve, as well as things we’ve done well. Tomorrow the conditions will probably be completely different, so we’ll have to keep adapting, and there will certainly be other things to identify, but we will take it day by day.”
In third, Yann Guichard’s Sails of Change 8 had a fairly consistent day with a 3-3-5 scoreline on an otherwise quite high-scoring day for the rest of the fleet. Zen Too is in fourth, Ylliam XII – Comptoir Immobilier fifth, Duncan Späth's Sails of Change 10 progressively improved all day to finish sixth, with X-Wing in seventh.
Tomorrow, the forecast is for cooler temperatures with light rain and scattered thunderstorms, meaning another tricky day is on the cards for the race committee and teams.
