Last weekend, the Société Nautique de Genève counted 404 boats at the start, 239 crossed the finish line of the Bol d’Or du Léman. The regatta, which was held in very light thermal winds, was a real test of courage and patience. As a result, the closing of the finish line was brought forward to 2 p.m., as strong gusts of wind of 35 knots were briefly forecast for Sunday afternoon.
The overall winner was the TF35 Realteam Spirit of Esteban Garcia and Jérôme Clerc. In the monohulls, the Libéra Class A of Gauvain Ramseier, a surprise winner with 11 young crew members, won just ahead of Philippe de Weck’s two Lüthi, K2 and Katana. In the Surprise class, Fou du Vent with Benoît Deutsch and Victor Casas took his first Bol d’Or ahead of 92 competitors in this class.
The Ventilos M2s were also impressive: The 28-foot catamarans placed five boats in the top ten overall, with Didier Pfister’s Swiss Medical Network in the lead. In tenth place overall, Charlotte Lerch’s M2 Team Bacchus even had a prominent guest on board: Franck Cammas. The four-time winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre, winner of the Route du Rhum, winner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 and many other races had traveled to Switzerland especially for the Bol d’Or.
Charlotte Lerch told us about this very special Bol d’Or.
To the video interview.