The 76th Bol d’Or Mirabaud, around Lake Geneva, will long be remembered by all crews as an exceptional race. Contested in a strong North wind, between 15 and 25 knots, the race conditions were idyllic, with warm temperatures and sunny skies.

"The strategy was to stay in contact with our competitors and not to take extreme options, so that we could seize every opportunity and keep some cards up our sleeve," explained Dona Bertarelli, skipper of Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing, the winner of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, at the end of the race. 

As is often the case, the victory was determined when passing the Bouveret barge – the halfway point and a cape that is often very difficult to navigate. In fact, the lead sailing boats were slowed down significantly at the top of the lake, whereas a strong North wind was blowing on the rest of the pack out in open water; a moment that was particularly gruelling for the skippers' nerves, but which gave Dona Bertarelli, Yann Guichard and their teammates a chance to return to the head of the race, which had previously been led by Alinghi, Realstone and Mobimo. 

©Loris von Siebenthal

"The goal was still to be in the leading pack at the halfway mark," Yann Guichard explained. "We knew the wind was going to soften at the halfway point and that it would return again strongly ahead of us. We managed to take the lead 150 metres from Bouveret, and we could better anticipate the second part of the race, which always promised to be tough." 

At the end of 66.5 nautical miles covered in 5 hours and 38 minutes, the Decision 35 Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing crossed the finish line, ahead of Realstone and Alinghi. It is the second time in a row that a sailing boat in Zenith colours has won the Bol d’Or; the M1 Zenith catamaran, skippered by Jean-Philippe Bucher, came out as the winner in 2013; unfortunately, he fell victim to a tear in his main sail this year. 

©Chris Schmid

"I'm very proud of my team who sailed well from start to finish," concludes Dona Bertarelli. "It's also an enormous pleasure to win the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, and the race for the second time. Now we have to win the next edition because to keep the Bol d'Or forever, you have to win the race three times in five years."

©Chris Schmid

Following this success in Geneva, the entire team have now turned their attention to the low-pressure large-scale weather systems coming from Canada and the north of the Unites States, which could allow Spindrift 2 to contest the record for crossing the Atlantic, as well as the Zenith speed record over 24 hours. In fact, the maxi trimaran is on stand-by in Newport, ready to be launched on the quest for this record, which is one of the biggest sailing challenges of all time.