GC32 Alps Challenge Traunsee - Hat-trick for Adam Minoprio in Norauto

by Sail-World.com NZL on 17 May 2016 The GC32’s first ever match racing event, the GC32 Alps Challenge Traunsee concluded on Austria’s breathtaking Lake Traunsee on Sunday with a clear victory for the French team, Norauto, helmed by New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio.

Four teams competed in the four day event, which started with two days of fleet racing. The winner from this got to choose his opponent for day three’s match racing, leaving the remaining pair of boats to fight it out. The winners and losers respectively from these matches then went on to line up in the final and petit final on the last day.

Organised by Austrian sports marketers PROFS Consulting GmbH in association with the GC32 Racing Tour, the GC32 Alps Challenge Traunsee was the fourth occasion the foiling one design catamarans have begun their season on scenic Lake Traunsee, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Austria’s ‘mini Lake Garda’ has delivered erratic conditions for GC32 racing previously, but this year there was enough wind not only to complete the full racing schedule, but also for the foiling GC32s to show off their flying ability.

Practice makes perfect and throughout the four day event, Norauto was in a class of her own, Adam Minoprio and his crew benefitting from ‘two boat training’ their GC32s in Brittany. Minoprio, a former Match Racing World Champion, has a good track record on Lake Traunsee, winning there in the class’ first ever regatta in 2013 and again with Luna Rossa in 2014.

Having won all but two of Thursday and Friday’s fleet races, Minoprio picked PROFS I Youth America’s Cup – Team Austria, skippered by Max Trippolt, to race in Saturday’s match racing semi-finals. Against the less experienced Austrian youth team, Norauto won decisively, 3-0.

Less decisive was the match between the more seasoned GC32 crews: Sebastien Rogues’ Team ngie and GC32 class president Flavio Marazzi’s Armin Strom Sailing Team. Marazzi, the Swiss former Olympic Star sailor, got the upper hand initially, taking the score-line to 2-0. Then Rogues, the former Class40 offshore racing champion, fought back to level the score at 2-2 at the end of day three.

On the last day Armin Strom Sailing Team won the decider, to gain a berth in the final against Norauto.

With winds gusting to 15 knots, but still patchy, Norauto was once again unbeaten in the first-to-four final.

Winning skipper Adam Minoprio commented: 'Traunsee was good fun - colder than before, but with good breeze for racing most of the time. We had some good racing and good success. We were definitely were manouevring the boat a lot smoother than the other teams. But like all lake sailing, no matter how good your manoeuvres are, getting the right puff is more important and during both the fleet racing and the match racing, we ended up on the right side of every wind shift which gave us the race wins.'

In the petit final, to determine third and fourth places, Team Engie prevailed, dropping just one race to PROFS I Youth America’s Cup – Team Austria.

“It was great to go racing on Lake Traunsee again,” commented Team Engie skipper Sébastien Rogues. “It was good practice and an opportunity to see how the other teams are sailing before we start the GC32 Racing Tour.”