Alinghi Red Bull Racing flies over Geneva-Roll
It took Ernesto Bertarelli’s boat just over three hours to win ahead of Spindrift and Realteam. TF35 made the show a week before the Bol d’Or.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing won in 3 hours and 2 minutes.
Jean Jay Bethune
Ernesto Bertarelli took his first win in the TF35 on a lake classic in Geneva. At the helm of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, he finished the deal in just over three hours (3h02) at the 57th edition of the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva. The 37th America’s Cup Challenger beat Spindrift by 1 minute Jan Gichard and Jerome Clerk’s Realteam 2 minutes 2’46.
TF35s left no doubt for one week of Bol d’Or Mirabaud. The frustrated after the first hour of the race set sail on a slow trot. At 1 p.m., off Tour Carrée, in Cologny, more than 200 crews took off in the light skies. Things got serious soon after Versoix was released. The first half of the course was completed at 2h12. It was the D35 Okalys that took advantage of these conditions to exploit its versatility downwind and overtake Rolle’s mark for the lead in 2h12.
Fantastic performance by young helmsman Arnaud Grange and his team. The young talent could not do anything when the course was decided in Geneva. In a strong drought, Tf35 stood out on its flakes to better leave the horses. Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Spindrift and Realteam, spinning at over 20 knots, played a game of cat and mouse as they approached the water jet.
power up
Ernesto Bertarelli, accompanied by Arnaud Psarovajes, Nicolas Charbonnier, Lucien Coguen, Yves Detry and Brian Mitro, took the lead from Messery not to give up his bones. One week before the Bol d’Or, Alinghi Red Bull confirmed his rise to power. Slightly reconfigured, in light of the upcoming trophy, the crew meets the legitimate expectations it raises.
It’s a safe bet that the hierarchy, within a week, should once again bring to the surface the same trio that dominated Geneva Roll. But again everything will depend on weather conditions and the factor of luck, which is often decisive for a lake tour. If there’s wind, the competition can’t do anything against Lake F1. The landing from Rolle to Geneva came as a reminder of the cold technological reality: Flying over the surface of Lake Geneva, the Alinghi Red Bull took 50 minutes to get back to square one. Breathtaking.
Gregoire Sordes He has been a journalist at Sport-Center since 2019. After a period of training as a free-lance candidate from 2002 to 2004 in the 24-hour sports department, he worked there for 5 years. In 2009, he joined the Tribune de Genève and specialized in observing alpine skiing, sailing and ice hockey. In 2020, he co-authored the book “Suisses en Mer” (Favre Justice).
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