Sails of Change celebrate winning the 2024 TF35 Trophy
by Sails of Change 23 Sep 2024 23:19 AEST
20-22 September 2024
Yann Guichard and his young team on Sails of Change 8 are celebrating winning the TF35 Trophy at the end of a highly competitive 2024 racing season on Lake Geneva.
Skipper Yann Guichard — co-founder with Dona Bertarelli of Sails of Change — and his crew on Sails of Change 8 had built the foundations for their inaugural TF35 Trophy triumph with victories aboard their high-speed foiling catamaran at the Nyon Cup, and then the long-distance Genève-Rolle-Genève and Bol d'Or Mirabaud races earlier in the season. It is the first time that a TF35 team has won the Genève-Rolle-Genève, Bol D'Or Mirabaud and the overall season Trophy — the 'triple'.
The experienced Duncan Späth, Bertarelli's son and skipper-helmsman of Sails of Change 10, had also made his mark on the high-profile circuit in his first season leading his own team after several seasons as a crew member.
Tied for the trophy title going into decider
Guichard and his crew on Sails of Change 8 — Noé Delpech, François Morvan, Bruno Mourniac, Adrien Mestre and Solune Robert — had headed into the season's last grand prix event, the TF35 Realstone Cup for Léman Hope, tied with long-standing rivals Realteam Sailing for the trophy title.
When all results were in Sails of Change's victory in the second race proved decisive, lifting them above Realteam on countback and delivering the TF35 Trophy title by a single point after a long and competitive season.
"It's amazing to win the TF35 season after winning the Genève-Rolle-Genève and the Bol d'Or Mirabaud, it's an extraordinary feeling," said Guichard, speaking back ashore at the prestigious Société Nautique de Genève.
"We've had a magnificent year. At the start of the season, we didn't know where to position ourselves as a new team. We won the first Grand Prix, which gave us hope and then we followed that up in quite an incredible way by winning the two long-distance races. Winning the championship is the icing on the cake - we are very happy.
"It was an ambitious project in the time available to put together the Sails of Change 8 project. I am very proud of the whole Sails of Change team. It was a great challenge, with a lot of work over the winter to give us a fantastic boat that performed well throughout the year."
After congratulating Realtime Sailing and Zen Too for their strong performances, he added: "We must also keep our feet on the ground. Everything went very well, but there are still plenty of areas that we can improve on. We will savour this fabulous win but it is a collective victory — we are a team of two boats, with Duncan at the helm on the other boat, Sails of Change 10. There are many positives to take away from this season and then to come back stronger next year."
An equally delighted Dona Bertarelli said: "It has been a great season. We had two boats, with my son racing professionally with his own team and boat for the first time, so that was amazing to see him improving all season — he still has a lot to learn of course but he did some really good things, and I am proud of him.
"Yann had an unbelievable season. We have seen how close the results are at all the races. It has been an exceptional series and I am really proud of the whole team, not just the sailors but the shore team as well.
"Yann gave it his all, building a new team and getting Boat 0 — the test boat used to validate the concept — ready to be competitive for the 2024 season."
And she added: "For now, both teams are going to take some time off. We will be back next season on the TF35 circuit with our two Sails of Change."
Duncan Späth and his Sails of Change 10 crew — Yann Jauvin, Xavier Revil, Pieter Tack, Jules Bidegaray and Thibault Julien — had also gone into the final event tied with another contender — Ylliam 17 — but with the lack of wind restricting any comeback opportunity finished at the bottom of the event table, and overall in the season.
Späth said: "This was my first season as skipper and it was a great challenge. We received a lot of feedback and everything we were looking for I think we got. The team was great, so we are looking forward to starting next year. I am motivated — the boat is unbelievable and performs really well. We are very happy with where we are, and we just need to continue to improve."
Close competition from the very beginning
Sails of Change 8 had started the 2024 season in style by winning the Nyon Cup. Runners-up Realteam Sailing then swopped places with Sails of Change 8 at the second event, the TF35 Mies Cup.
It was also there that Späth's Sails of Change 10 crew claimed its first race win as a team to finish fourth overall, their best result of the season.
Next up, at Genève-Rolle-Genève, Sails of Change 8 again topped the table after a smart tactical call by Guichard saw them finish just a minute ahead of Realteam after 4 hours and 41 minutes of racing.
The team then went on to achieve back-to back wins with victory at the Bol D'Or Mirabaud, their fifth at the iconic event on Lake Geneva, once again just in front of Realteam.
Keeping the pressure on to the last, Realteam then came back in the last regatta before the Realstone Cup, Les Voiles de Choisi, taking the top spot clear of Sails of Change 8, and setting up the exciting season finale which saw Sails of Change's ultimate success.