Bol d’Or Mirabaud: Realteam sailing in the lead at the halfway mark

The first half of this 84th Bol d'Or Mirabaud was marked by very light wind conditions. Setting off at precisely 10:00 am from Geneva, the 420 competitors benefited from a light "Séchard" (thermal wind), which enabled the frontrunners to extract themselves from the "Petit Lac" at around midday.

Favourite of the race in these light airs and defending champion, the Decision 35 w-team skippered by Christian Wahl and crewed by the Sailing Squad lived up to its reputation, quickly taking the lead. Benefiting from a marginal lead, the "old" Décision 35, built in 2004, was however caught by the TF 35 Realteam Sailing; the only boat in its class to have swapped its foils for traditional daggerboards.

Also performing well in light airs, the M2 catamarans stayed in contact throughout the first half of the race, and remained a constant threat to the leaders.

Realteam Sailing crossed the halfway mark at 18h00'40'', after 8 hours of sailing. The catamarans M2 Patrimonium and Swiss Medical Network crossed the mark shortly afterwards.

In the monohull category, the Psaros 40 Cellmen Ardentis, the Syz Psaros 47, the QFX and the Libera Raffica sailed in contact with the best multihulls across the "Petit Lac" before losing ground. Now relegated to around twenty kilometers from the front of the race, they have been joined by the pack of the fastest monohulls; a group of around thirty monohulls is currently sailing in contact towards "Le Bouveret".

In the other categories currently making their way to "Le Bouveret", we note the exceptional performances of the Luthi Perchette, the Toucan Gaston 3 and the Surprise Twist Again.

The night promises to be long and calm, but the racers are keeping a close eye on any thunder cells that may develop over the mountains and generate stronger winds. Barring any surprises, the finish of the race is not expected before midnight.