After several months of preparation in our base in Saint Philibert (Morbihan, south-west Brittany), our TF35 catamaran will soon be heading to Switzerland for season 2 of the TF35 circuit. The latter comprises 6 events, spanning May to October and Switzerland, Italy and France.
Right now, the shore crew is putting the final touches to the various elements that make up this latest generation catamaran, which is equipped with T-shaped appendages enabling her to fly. Upon completion, she will be methodically packed away into a dedicated container, so the boat can be transported to the Société Nautique in Geneva, where she’ll be assembled next week.
From there, the first training sessions of the season will get underway for Spindrift, from Monday 11 April, with a two-pronged objective for Yann Guichard and his crew. The first of these will involve getting their bearings again on this very demanding flying platform. With the grinder (crew whose main role is to haul on the mainsail and trim the gennaker sheet when gybing) yet to be selected, the sailors will then launch into a series of team trials to complete the crew.
For the very first time in the competition, 2022 will see eight TF35s vying for the crown throughout this second season. The seven crews signed up for 2021 will be joined by Vitamina Sailing, an Italian team led by Andrea Lacorte, to whom we’d like to extend a warm welcome.
On the championship programme this year, six varied events, four of which are on Lake Geneva, one on Lake Garda in Italy and then a last one in the Mediterranean, in the famous Bay of Cannes, where the TF35 Trophy 2022 will be decided.
Aboard the TF35 Spindrift, just one change will be made to the crew line-up and Yann Jauvin (tactician), Duncan Späth (mainsail trimmer), Antoine Rucard (headsail trimmer) and Jules Bidegarray (bowman) will be back in action alongside our skipper Yann Guichard for the whole season.
From 19 to 22 May, we’ll be participating in the first event, in Nyon, with the Realstone Cup for Léman hope. Two weeks later will be the TF35 Grand Prix de Mies (3 & 5 June) and the Genève-Rolle-Genève, considered to be the prologue to the famous Bol d’Or Mirabaud. The latter will take place on Saturday 11 June and will gather together nearly 500 boats for what is the largest inland regatta in the world. Following an action-packed 2021 edition with a nocturnal finish resulting in a sixth place for Spindrift, just 104 seconds shy of the winner, we’re eager to top the leader board this year.
The second part of the season will kick off on 8 September with the TF35 Malcesine Cup, which runs until 11 September in the stunning location of Lake Garda. Finally, from 6 to 9 October, we’ll be heading to Cannes, in the South of France, for the final meeting of the season, which will decide the final ranking.
After a third place in the TF35 Trophy 2021, this year’s sporting objective is geared towards another podium, where the team will have its eyes on the main prize.
As was the case in 2021, we’ll give you a ringside seat at all the season’s events thanks to live results, daily roundups, amazing images, not to mention the latest behind-the-scenes news from Spindrift.
