10th Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy - Olympian's triple hat trick
by Gstaad Yacht Club 1 Oct 2021 07:56 PDT
30 September 2021
Olympian, winner of the 10th Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy © Juerg Kaufmann /
www.juergkaufmann.com / GYC
After her wins in 2014 and in 2019 the stunning Olympian did it again and won the 10th edition of the Gstaad Centenary Trophy in the waters of Saint Tropez on Thursday.
The gaff sloop from the mighty P Class, skippered by French America's Cup star Bruno Troublé thus becomes the very first triple winner of the world's only race dedicated to centenarian yachts.
The P Class Olympian (William Gardner, 1913) skippered by Bruno Troublé won the 10th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy after a match racing finish just ahead of the NY50 Spartan (Herreshoff, 1915) skippered by the American Peter Isler, whilst the other PClass Chips (Starling Burgess 1913) took third place.
This anniversary edition will not doubt remain engraved in the memories of all participants and fans: an intense race and a great duel between the two leaders, up until the very last metres to the finish line. "An unforgettable regatta!" said an elated Bruno Troublé, who wins the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy for the third time, thus becoming the first skipper doing a triple in the history of the event.
Thursday is the traditional day for challenges during the Voiles de Saint-Tropez. This year, almost 20 centenary yachts entered the 10th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy. Sunshine, blue skies, an easterly wind of about ten knots: champagne conditions for the 19 classic yachts, that battled on a 7.5 nautical mile course in the Bay of Saint Tropez.
Since its creation, the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy is raced under a Pursuit Race format. Thanks to a special rating system, the competitors cross the starting line according to their handicap, with the first boat to cross the finish line in front of Saint Tropez to be declared the winner.
An incredible duel with an America's Cup feel
Despite having 19 strong competitors on the start line of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy, the race panned out as a true match-racing, a duel between Olympian, skippered by Bruno Troublé, and Spartan, led by two-time America's Cup winner, Peter Isler from the USA with a series of tacks and control moves on each other. A game that both sailors know and play well, but in the end it was Frenchman Bruno Troublé taking the lead over Peter Isler just a few lengths from the finish line. Olympian thus becomes the very first triple winner of the world's only race dedicated to centenarian yachts
"What a great race today, we won so I'm happy but it's been also an incredible race to celebrate the 10th edition, as it was a very close one. It proves that this is a concept, a format that works really well. How sad are races where one boat has a 500 metre lead over the second boat? But this is a great format, especially when there's a close finish like today. It's the boat's third victory, it's really an awesome performance." Said Bruno Troublé, crowned three-time winner of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy today.
"This anniversary edition was a real success. On the water, the regatta was exceptional with a very exciting finale. It will go down in the history of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy because it was so intense and with such a great winner." Declared Manrico Iachia, Commodore of the Gstaad Yacht Club.
Tomorrow morning, an agreement will be signed between the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez -the Voiles' organizing club- and the Gstaad Yacht Club. This twinning between the two clubs aims at reinforcing the relationship set up between the two clubs over the last 10 years.
The Trophy, awarded every year, is also centenary, as it was created by Wakely and Wheeler in London in 1911, exactly 100 years before the first edition of the regatta.
More information and a gallery of stunning pictures from past editions can be found at the newly launched Centenary Trophy website, gyccentenarytrophy.com
Past winners of the Centenary Trophy 2011: Bonafide (1899) 2012: Marigold (1892) 2013: due to adverse weather conditions the title was not awarded 2014: Olympian (1913) 2015: Oriole (1905) 2016: Spartan (1913) 2017: Tilly XV (1912) 2018: Tilly XV (1912) 2019: Olympian (1913) 2021: Olympian (1913)