TF35 Malcesine Cup, Spindrift continues to win

Malcesine – Day three of the TF35 Malcesine Cup and the young crew onboard Spindrift continued to be the standout team winning both races in the unusually light, fickle breeze on the lake.

The day started promising classic Lake Garda conditions, but again, the southerly Ora wind failed to fill in as expected for the third day in a row. “A long day”, explained Yann Guichard helm of Spindrift on the dock after racing. “We were not expecting the irregular wind, so it was not easy for the Race Committee to start races.” 

At 15:00CET, Principal Race Officer Benoit Deutsch finally got the first race of the day going shortly after ominous thunderclouds passed over the mountain range to the west of the lake. A clean start for Guichard saw the team lead the fleet from start to finish; after breaking away from the chasing pack at the first windward gate and extending downwind. Guy de Picciotto’s ZEN Too challenged the race leaders on the first beat, but it was Loïck Peyron on the helm of Team Sailfever who climbed from fifth to take second place over the finish line. Realteam for Leman hope recovered from a disastrous OCS and penalty to finish in third.

For the day’s second race, the fleet was reasonably even up the first beat, which started at eight knots. But as they approached the first windward gate, the breeze went soft to just five knots, and TF35s slowed down, coming off their foils. As the fleet drifted around the gate, the wind picked up and stabilised enough to complete the downwind leg and for the race committee to shorten the course and finish the race at the end of the second beat. Spindrift took her second the win of the day: “Yann (Jauvin) did a great job in tactics as well as the whole team in terms of manoeuvres and performance. We did really well, so we are delighted to be in the lead overall after three days,” added Guichard. 

Alinghi Red Bull Racing made a good call on the beat heading closest to the shoreline to find better pressure to pull ahead of ZEN Too and take second, whilst de Picciotto’s team finished in third. “It’s a good day for us”, commented ZEN Too helm Loïc Forestier. “We worked hard pre-event, and the ZEN campaign is progressing. The first race was a bit frustrating because we made a few small mistakes that cost us two points, but today’s takeaway is that we should always try to be productive and move forward as a team.”

The planned race start has been brought forward to 12.00 CET to make the most of the forecasted breeze tomorrow. “It will be a big day tomorrow. We hope for a little more wind, and the leaderboard will be reshuffled. We will start the day in the lead, and I hope we will finish it the same way,” Guichard concludes. 

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