Zenith Wins The Bol d’Or Mirabaud

23/06/2014 editor

Zenith’s Ladycat of Spindrift Racing Wins The Bol d’Or Mirabaud

The highlight of the Vulcain Trophy on Lake Geneva, the regatta of the 76th Bol d’Or Mirabaud was won on Saturday by the D35 of Dona Bertarelli, Ladycat, sponsored by Zenith. She and her crew completed the course between Geneva and Le Bouveret in 5hrs 38min in a sustained breeze. Zenith also sponsors the giant trimaran, Spindrift 2, which will be attempting to break the record for the North Atlantic crossing this summer.

This year’s Bol d’Or Mirabaud was marked by a high level of equality, at least as far as the D35 were concerned. The competitors faced choppy conditions with wind speeds in excess of 20 knots. The racing was fierce with Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing, ZenToo, Alinghi and Veltigroup passing the mark at Versoix almost simultaneously. Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing turns first at the buoy, followed by Veltigroup, and an intense duel follows. Veltigroup had a slight lead entering the home straight but the intense pursuit-race saw Marco Simeoni’s D35 caught and overtaken by Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing just before the finish line, as he discovered he had been awarded a penalty for crossing the starting line too early. Ladycat proved to stand the test of the tough conditions and rise to the top of the pack to take victory with this exciting finish.

Dona Bertarelli, owner and skipper of Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing stressed that the Bol d’Or Mirabaud was an important target for her: “we are on standby in New York waiting for a weather window for an attempt at the North Atlantic crossing with Spindrift 2 but we came back for the Bol d’Or Mirabaud. We wanted to be here. I will savour this victory, especially since there were some tense moments on board given the difficult conditions we experienced. Anything can happen: breakages, capsizing, we had to remain focused throughout the race.”

The Zenith team showed that they are in great form this season and are a force to be reckoned with in future events. Bellow is a short video of Zenith’s Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing competing at The Bol d’Or Mirabaud.