Alinghi wins Open de Nyon regatta and leads the D35 championship by 3 points

[Source: Alinghi] Quote from the race boat: Pierre-Yves Jorand, mainsail trimmer onboard Alinghi SUI1 Décision 35, comments on what’s been a very successful racing weekend for Ernesto Bertarelli and his crew.

You’ve had a good day, a good weekend and you’ve won the regatta and now are leading the championship… How did all this happen?

“Today we had similar conditions to yesterday, so fantastic conditions of typical lake Geneva ‘Bise’ NE wind which was quite strong especially for the first two races, between 8 and 20 knots. We knew the wind was going to die down after the second race so we had a bullet and a second place, thanks to a great start from Ernesto (Bertarelli). He did a great job placing the boat in a perfect position at the start line, Tanguy (Cariou) called perfect tactics through the day and the rest of the crew: Nils (Frei), Yves (Detrey), Coraline (Jonet) and myself were working on the maneuvering and the boat speed, so it was a great success for the team today.”

From what you say and looking at the results it looks as if you had been sailing on these boats all summer…

“We made less mistakes than the other teams. We didn’t sailing during July and mid August due to the summer pause in the championship but we have sailed with the same crew as we have done since 2007 and we know each other very well, and we are very focused on race tactics and boat speed.”

You have more two regattas to go, how confident are you feeling that you can win this Challenge Julius Baer championship as you did last year and the year before?

“We knew that the conditions today were going to be lighter in the afternoon with big shifts both in speed and direction so anything could happen and we thought it was very important to secure the championship after race 6. In the two other races we focused in learning new things making sure that we were not going to make big mistakes.”

A word on Alain Gautier, another Alinghi team member, and his D35 team, Foncia…

“Alain had a great weekend in June, when he won the Bol d’Or and he managed to win one race this weekend. I know him and the team and I’m sure he will be back stronger in two weeks time.”

The next D35 regatta, HP Cup La Réserve, the seventh of the Challenge Julius Baer, will take place on 5 and 6 September

Alinghi SUI1 crew
Ernesto Bertarelli, helmsman
Pierre-Yves Jorand, mainsail trimmer and performance
Nils Frei, trimmer
Yves Detrey, bow/mastman and boat captain
Tanguy Cariou, tactician
Coraline Jonet, trimmer