Please select your home edition
Edition
Hyde Sails 2024 - One Design

International 5.5 Metre Autumn Trophy at Thunersee-Yachtclub - Overall

by Robert Deaves 9 Oct 2017 02:51 HKT 6-8 October 2017

While the beauty and splendor of Lake Thun have not been lost on the 5.5 Metre fleet at the Autumn Trophy (Herbstpreis), the wind did get lost on the final day with no more races possible.

So, New Moon, BAH 21 (Christoph Burger, Flavio Marazzi, Peter Vlasov) takes a second regatta win in a row, after taking the win in Cannes last week. Second place goes Marie-Françoise XIX, SUI 228 (Jürg Menzi, Dino Fumasoli, Christof Wilke) with Nina, SUI 215 (Heinz Saurer, Hans Scheidegger, Maja Siegenthaler) in third.

The overnight rain had cleared and after a brief wait ashore on Sunday morning the fleet was sent out in a light breeze. However, on arrival at the start area there was barely enough breeze to fly the flags. The fleet waited...and waited...and waited. Some went ashore to the nearest pub, some edged back towards the club but apart from the occasional cat's-paw on the water, there was no sign of wind. The lake was like a mirror. Eventually at 13.00 the race officer gave up and sent the fleets home.

So the results remain from Saturday.

Second overall, Menzi explained what keeps him in the class. "It's a very tactical boat. It allows me to go sailing. It's far away from a speedy boat but it goes well upwind and also downwind it's really very tactical downwind, knowing when you have to gybe and to calculate the angles."

He has been in the class for 30 years. "I sailed Soling for a long time and before that when I was younger dinghies, 505, Finn, Contender, 420, 470, but when the Soling finished in Switzerland we started with the 5.5 Metre."

He praised the quality of the racing. "Switzerland is one of the main fleets in the world so we always have enough boats. 20-30 years ago the local fleets were bigger but it's always sailors of good quality and it's not so easy to win."

Wiebe de Witte is one of the furthest traveled to sail in Thun. Sailing on Duchess of B with Victorine Bredero, they have been coming to Thun every year for 10 years and just love the lake and the end of season get together for the 5.5 Metre sailors.

"We do it every year. It marks the end of the season. In Holland we don't usually have very good summers, so about 10 years ago Victorine decided to have one last race somewhere and ever since then we come here."

"It is super fun. We like the environment and the Thunersee."

He has been sailing 5.5s since 2005. "We started in an evolution hull, though it was modern at the time, and then in 2007 Victorine bought a modern boat." De Witte is a boatbuilder at home and looks after the maintenance of the Dutch 5.5 Metre fleet. "We have nine active boats at the moment including four classics and three boats that sail internationally."

"The 5.5 is super cool sailing. It's technical sailing, you can really push the boat to its limit and if you make one little mistake you immediate get punished for it, and that's fun. It goes fast upwind, you have the trim keel to play with, and I like the spinnakers as well. Today it's all about speed and asymmetrics, but I like the tactics of the normal spinnaker."

Former World Champion, Flavio Marrazi was brought in at the last minute to fill the middle position on regatta winner, New Moon. His history in the class is legendary, winning the Swiss Championship and the European Championship in his first season at 14 year of age, crewing for his father, and then winning six world titles, five as helmsman over the next 12 years.

"In 2002, we built a new boat for the Worlds in Helsinki and I sailed with my father and brother and I think we are still the only family crew to have won the world championship. It is a nice memory."

"My father sailed the Star and tried to find something new, and there were some boats here in Thun. It was quite a competitive class here and in 2004 I started steering the boat. It was really nice with the world-class sailors in the fleet. It was always a nice boat."

"This class is special because it's a construction class, but from 2002 on the boats are very similar so it's almost a one-design class, so the competition became much closer, than in say the 1990s."

"There are marginal differences. It's all about teamwork, and really fine-tuning of the boat, very similar to the Star. But maybe now it's time to come up with something new. Surely there is a gap somewhere in the rules. There is always room for improvement."

"How you sail the boat in different conditions makes a huge difference. When I started, my crew was much more dynamic and tried to push the boat much more than before. It became more of a dinghy style of sailing. This is where you make the biggest difference compared to the old school style of sailing."

On the racing here in Thun, "It was really nice racing. We didn't have the best starts, but always came back. And it's always nice to see how we can sail the boat with a very experienced crew and stay calm even if you are OCS. It was good, and a lot of fun."

Results can be found here.

Related Articles

5.5 Metre German Open in Warnemunde day 2
Otto takes command on the second day Otto (NOR 68, Lasse Berthelsen, Sam Haines, Kyle Gundersen) storm into the lead at the 2025 5.5 Metre German Open in Warnemunde after three wins from four races on Friday in winds from 8-15 knots. Posted on 30 May
5.5 Metre German Open in Warnemunde day 1
Race wins go Beta Crucis and New Moon III New Moon III (BAH 25, Christoph Burger, Kim Chabani, Peter Vlasov) is the early leader after two races in great conditions at the 2025 5.5 Metre German Open in Warnemunde. Posted on 30 May
2025 edition of fivepointfive magazine published
5.5 Metre Class now off to Poland for the first time The 2025 edition of fivepointfive Magazine was launched during the recent Alpen Cup at Riva and is now available to read online and download. Posted on 20 May
5.5 Metre Enoshima Trophy 2025 overall
The final two races were both dramatically won by Rabicano. Rabicano (Arancia Malaspina) has won the 2025 Enoshima Trophy for 5.5 Metres in La Spezia, Italy, after the final day of racing on Sunday. Manuela V (Guido Tommasi) is second with Grifone (Benedetta Di Salle) third. Posted on 11 May
5.5 Metre Enoshima Trophy 2025 Day 2
Rabicano and Manuela V neck and neck Rabicano (Arancia Malaspina) has maintained the lead at the Enoshima Trophy for 5.5 Metres after two more races in brilliant sunshine and a light to moderate wind on Saturday at La Spezia, Italy, but by the narrowest of margins. Posted on 10 May
5.5 Metre Enoshima Trophy 2025 Day 1
Rabicano leads after opening day in La Spezia Harking back to the days when the 5.5 Metre was an Olympic class, each year the Enoshima Trophy is sailed in boats that are still in the same configuration and conform to the rules applicable during the Olympic era. Posted on 9 May
5.5m Alpen Cup at Fraglia Vela Riva overall
The Jean Genie wins the title for a record fourth time The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott) only needed one more race to secure a record fourth Alpen Cup for Peter Morton, and took a third place in race 7 to win with a race to spare. Posted on 4 May
5.5m Alpen Cup at Fraglia Vela Riva Day 2
The Jean Genie extends lead The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott) extended their lead to 11 points after three more races on Friday at the 5.5 Metre Alpen Cup at Riva del Garda, Italy. Posted on 2 May
5.5m Alpen Cup at Fraglia Vela Riva Day 1
The Jean Genie makes strong start to title defence The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruaridh Scott) took a commanding lead on a very tricky opening day of the 2025 5.5 Metre Alpen Cup at Fraglia Vela Riva, on Lake Garda, Italy. Posted on 1 May
International 5.5 Metre Class 2025 Events
The World Championship is being held at Sopot, Poland in June The 2025 International 5.5 Metre Calendar is published. It is divided into Category A and B Events. Category A events are the principle international events attracting the most competitors and from which the 5 Nations Cup events are selected. Posted on 22 Mar
Armstrong 728x90 - Wing FG Board Range - BOTTOMNorth Sails Loft 57 PodcastBoat Books Australia FOOTER