The 47th edition of the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva race took place on the weekend of June 4–5 (we’ll leave it to the observant reader to figure out the route). This year, two LUC Voile crews were on the starting line: on LV1, Zoé, Laurie, Aldo, Ozan, and Anouk; and on LV2, with a brand-new mast, Loïc, Perrine, Matteo, Jean, and Aurélien. But that’s not all—the Surprise fleet (52 boats) is dotted with LUC members: Loïc on Dolce Vita, Alexandre and Sebastian on Noushine, and a few other LUC members on other boats. After a delivery run on Friday by Anouk, Perrine, and Aurel, the two crews met up on Saturday morning in Geneva for pre-departure preparations! Now it’s time for the crews’ stories, seen from the inside.

The race got off to a somewhat rocky start, as the crew (we won’t name names) mistook the one-minute warning for the starting signal. By the time they realized their mistake, the boat was in the lee of the fleet and practically at a standstill, watching the competitors speed past, in 48th place. Never mind, the crew—with Jean at the helm, Aurel at the sheet, and the others on the halyard, showed tremendous determination, hanging in there and refusing to give up. They took advantage of the rising wind to make up ground upwind at a good speed, gradually overtaking their direct competitors one by one.
Near Yvoire, it’s a comeback, and LV2 catches up to the rest of the fleet, which is facing the tail end of the breeze and a lull on the open lake all the way to Rolle. The lake crossing is long, and we take advantage of the light breezes to cool off in the water and grab a bite to eat, before having a great match race with some Italian friends.
At 7:30 p.m., the wind finally picks up, and the boat sets off again in good conditions for the final stretch before Rolle. We are 39th at the mark. Then the team sets off again under spinnaker, breaking away just in time from the Swiss coast with a well-timed gybe to avoid getting stuck like many boats off Gland.
Night falls, and Perrine’s private crew—who is battling a fever in the back of the boat—gains a few more places by navigating the gusts under spinnaker, thanks to excellent tactical efforts and boat handling, and by keeping the spinnaker inflated in all situations. A true work of art. After a brief storm that soaks us but allows us to make headway almost all the way to the line, the race ends as we try to spot the lights of the final mark and the finish line, gaining one more place on a boat we’d been match racing against for 20 minutes.
We finished 32nd at the line, with a very respectable time of 1:14 PM! It was a great regatta for the crew, who showed their determination (special shout-out to Perrine, who hung in there until the very end, and to Matteo, who was ready to climb the mast even in the storm) and their competitive spirit (special shout-out to Aurélien and his tapas—those in the know will get it) even in tough moments, all while proving we can pull off some great moves! In short, a great regatta and plenty of good lessons to apply to the Bol d’Or, which is shaping up to be a promising event!

A good start! Or at least good enough to get the race off to a solid start. The Séchard picked up just a bit before the signal. We make the most of it to head up the French coast as quickly as possible (which is actually Swiss for a good part of the way, judging by the many red flags against a backdrop of light green grass). Everything is going well—we’ll overlook the few strands of seaweed caught in the rudder and Aldo’s efforts to get rid of them (or cool his feet)—until the wind dies down. We’re now off the coast of Yvoire; most of the Surprise boats have already started to move away from the coast, but not us… and that’s how, according to the tracking, we drop from 17th place to 43rd place…
In this lull, the darkening clouds over the Jura make us fear the worst: that the wind will pick up near the Swiss coast and thus see the entire fleet escape, taking advantage of it before we do. But that is not the case. We put all our focus and energy into closing the gap on our competitors and the Swiss coast. We’d already made significant headway when the wind finally decided to settle in, pick up, and give us a little momentum to round the Rolle buoy, hoist the spinnaker, and cross the lake again (well, part of it…).
Then, the wind died down again. A brief moment of hesitation, before moving even closer to the French coast. And there, with the spinnaker leading the way, well luffing, we start picking up speed—5 knots, 6 knots! We watch the Surprises fly by beneath our sails. We’re gliding again! What a blast! Apparently, according to that trusty tracking system, we were moving from 26th to 6th place at that moment. All around us were boats we hadn’t seen since we’d stopped at Yvoire a few hours earlier. But it can’t last forever. It’s now a little further offshore that the wind picks up. And on our side, it shifts; we lower the sail. The group we caught up with is pulling away from us (not all of them, thankfully!).
At this point, we have to mention the scenery—a storm is rolling in from Geneva. Gigantic flashes of lightning tear through the sky, illuminating every little ripple on the small lake. It’s very beautiful. The wind is picking up. Perfect for hoisting a spinnaker. Or not. It depends on the gusts. With a bit of quick thinking, we manage to gain a few more places. The hardest part now is finding the finish line!
We cross it in 16th place, 5 seconds ahead of the next boat, happy with this eventful race, and super motivated for the Bol d’Or next weekend!