Caracole wins opening race of 5.5 Metre Swiss Open

Defending champions Caracole (SUI 214, Bernard Haissly, Nicolas Berthoud, Daniel Stampfli) have won the opening race of the 2024 5.5 Metre Swiss Open at Rolle on Lake Geneva, on Thursday. Only one race was possible in a very light swinging breeze. Eleven boats from four countries are taking part.

It was a slow start to four days of 5.5 Metre racing at Rolle with the two day Swiss Open Championship followed by the two day Coupe de la Harpe, the traditional 5.5 Metre regatta at Rolle, which is also shared with the 6 Metres.

Hosted by the Société Nautique Rolloise at Rolle, on the northern shore of Lake Geneva, 30 km northeast of Geneva, with a forecast of light rain and even lighter wind, expectations were not high, but the morning rain held off throughout the afternoon and there were even some hot sunny periods.

With a sailable wind most of the morning, the fleet set out for the scheduled start at 13.30 only for the wind to immediately die. After sitting around for over two hours on a glassy lake, the fleet was sent back to the harbour to wait, and about 16.30 were sent out again in a building breeze. However, it was not very stable and was shifting a lot throughout the race.

Caracole, led at every mark to extend for a comfortable win. Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Ernst Rohner) rounded third but moved up to second on the second beat. Dune (SUI 218, Philippe Kolly, Annette Martin, Philippe Dupont) finally crossed third after a long battle with MF XXII (SUI 233, Jürg Menz, Cédric Evard, Christof Wilke), who rounded the first mark in second.

By the time the race ended it was past 18.00 and the fleet went ashore. It was a long day for a single 40-minute race. The championship concludes on Friday.