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Geneva-Rolle-Geneva regatta: Safram catamaran to sail maiden race this weekend on Lake Geneva
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Safram’s Ventilo multihull M1 kicks off its European lake campaign with the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva on Saturday, followed by the Bol d’Or Mirabaud the weekend after.
Geneva – 1 June 2015. The Safram multihull campaign, led by Rodolphe Gautier, kicks off on Saturday 6 June at the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva regatta, warm-up event to the Lake’s famous Bol d’Or Mirabaud held annually on the 13 June. This maiden race marks the beginning of a campaign that will take in some of the greatest lake events in Europe.
“Our first two events are on home waters,” said skipper Rodolphe Gautier. “It will be a good opportunity for us to get to grips with the boat, we are still very much in the learning phase as a crew.”
The Ventilo M1 multihull demonstrated in 2013 that it is more than a match for the popular Decision 35, but the crew is conservative with their ambitions. “We know that these boats can do well, can even win these races in some conditions, but we are not feeling any pressure. We are all amateur sailors and have only spent a few hours on board whereas our competitors have a much more professional approach and have been training since the beginning of the year. Our goal is to race as well as we can and to try to be worthy of the ability of the boat. We are certainly motivated!”
Christophe Peclard, a master sail maker and talented sailor, will be helming the multihull with an otherwise amateur crew. Lake Geneva sailor Fabien Froesch will bring his 10 years of Decision 35 experience to the team and young French sailor Antoine Lauriot-Prévost who raced the Youth America’s Cup with Energy Team will also contribute to the crew’s performance on Lake Geneva.
“Our first training sessions in May were really satisfying, Safram is a superb lake sailing boat,” said Rodolphe who has done most of his sailing on an M2, the smaller version of the Ventilo M1. “Sailing these boats feels great, there are a lot of similarities with the M2, but obviously this boat is turbo-charged in comparison.
“The few small modifications that we made to the boat in the spring seem to be paying off. We made the boat a bit lighter by removing the wracks and simplifying the rigging. We also lengthened the appendages to gain a bit of performance. With the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva and Bol d’Or Mirabaud events coming up, we will be working on our on board communications and making our boat handling smoother.”
The team is determined to do well at this maiden event, particularly as the main sponsor, Safram, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on the eve of the regatta.
For more information, please go to the Safram Facebook page: Safram Sailing
Safram crew – Geneva-Rolle-Geneva
Christophe Peclard – helmsman
Fabien Froesch – bowman
Fabian Racloz – mid-bowman
Yves Guntern – trimmer
Rodolphe Gautier – skipper / trimmer
Antoine Lauriot- Prévost – traveller
Tim Bucher – reserve crew
Safram (SUI50) – 2015 programme
6-7 June: Geneva-Rolle-Geneva, Yacht Club de Genève (Lake Geneva)
13-14 June: Bol d’Or Mirabaud, Société Nautique de Genève (Lake Geneva)
2-4 July Blue Ribbon, Balatonfüred, Hungarian Yachting Association (Lake Balaton)
29-30 August: Trofeo Gorla, Circolo Vela Gargnano (Lake Garda)
5-6 September: Centomiglia, Circolo Vela Gargnano (Lake Garda)
Photos : © Nicolas Jutzi / Safram
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