A dynamic new profile for the 2007 Challenge Julius Baer

The 2007 Challenge Julius Baer looks like being a gripping contest, with the arrival of two new boats and entries from many internationally famous skippers. The boats themselves are even more powerful this year as a result of increasing the area of the wings and simplifying the rules. Full information about the Challenge Julius Baer will be available on a new web site from 10 April onwards.

No fewer than ten Décision 35 catamarans will be battling it out for this season’s Challenge Julius Baer, making this series one of the world’s most competitive one-design multihull competitions.

The calendar for the 2007 season features ten races over eight weekends. The flagship events are the two Grand Prix (Grand Prix Chopard and Grand Prix Beau-Rivage Palace) and the great Lake Geneva Classics (Genève-Rolle-Genève, Bol d’Or Mirabaud and Trans CNM). The other races are no less important, since they all give competitors the opportunity to amass precious points for the final annual rankings of the Challenge Julius Baer.

Two new boats are joining the Décision 35 fleet, bringing the total to ten. The catamaran of Dona Bertarelli Späth – which will be helmed by French champion Karine Fauconnier and sailed by an all-woman crew – will be named on 10 April. Christian Michel’s new boat Smart Home will be helmed by Christophe Peclard, and Jean-Pierre Ziegert will be coordinating the project.

Ranged against them, Loïck Peyron and Nicolas Grange (Okalys) will be going for the hat-trick to crown their victories in 2005 and 2006. But they’ll have to beat Foncia, skippered by Alain Gautier, who has adapted very quickly to the Décision 35, winning the last two races of last year’s season and finishing third overall.

The Alinghi team will undoubtedly be amongst the favourites for the 2007 championship, after finishing second in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, and all the keener since their sister team is the America’s Cup Defender. Will 2007 be the year of Alinghi?

As part of improving boat performance and safety, the maximum weight limit is now 456 kilos. The female crew could be 7-strong, whilst male crews will be restricted to six.

The wings have been extended to increase boat speed and reduce the risk of pitchpoling. The result is that two or three crew can now put their weight safely behind the helm, substantially increasing boat stability.

Lastly, the rankings system has been simplified so that all races are now worth the same number of points. The final Challenge Julius Baer rankings will be arrived at by adding up the points won in each race and dropping the worst result for each competitor. The Challenge winner will be the Décision 35 with the lowest number of points at the end of the season.

The boats will be lowered onto the water at Vevey by helicopter during April. Anyone interested in viewing this spectacular event should e-mail us at: Bernard.schopfer@maxcomm.ch

Full information about the Challenge Julius Baer will be available on a new web site from 10 April. The URL remains unchanged: http://www.challengejuliusbaer.com

2007 Challenge Julius Baer:

- 12 and 13 May Grand Prix Chopard SNG
- 9 June Genève-Rolle-Genève YCG
- 16 June Bol d’Or SNG
- 30 June TransCNM CNM
- 1 July Morges-Versoix CNM / CNV
- 11 August Régate du Joran CVNy
- 12 August Open du Yacht Club YCG
- 1 and 2 September HP Cup la Réserve SNG
- 15 and 16 September Open de Versoix CNV
- 28 to 30 September GP Beau-Rivage Palace CVV