Sails of Change 8 wins the TF35 Mies Grand Prix on blow out final day
by TF35 Trophy 31 May 13:51 PDT
29-31 May 2026
A day after the fleet baked through a long, windless endurance test on Lake Geneva, the TF35 Mies Grand Prix ended in altogether different fashion as a dry northwesterly Joran swept down from the Jura mountains and blew the regatta to an abrupt conclusion.
Only one race was possible before the breeze climbed beyond 20 knots.
For Sails of Change 8, fourth place in the lone race today was more than enough to secure overall victory. Their commanding Friday performance - five race wins from five starts - had already laid the foundations for success, while the ability to discard their sixth-place finish in Saturday's Genève-Rolle-Genève long-distance race left them comfortably clear of nearest rivals Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier by nine points.
"It's quite exceptional," skipper Yann Guichard said afterwards. "I don't think it happens very often. I'm not even sure it has ever happened to me before in my sailing career to win all five races in a single day."
Reflecting on the challenging conditions on the final day, Guichard added: "With the Joran wind, there are more opportunities to come back. The wind shifts in both strength and direction, sometimes very violently, so it's difficult to keep the boat stable in flight. It's interesting as well because there are many more tactical questions.
"There are fewer mandatory legs. With these boats going extremely fast, maneuvers are costly, so you generally don't maneuver very much. But with the Joran and its variations in strength and direction, it can be worth making several tacks or gybes during the race. That's where the racing really opens up."
For Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier owner Bertrand Demole, second place in the Mies Grand Prix is further evidence of the consistency his new team is developing this season and underlined their growing potential across the championship.
"I'm very happy with the Grand Prix," said Demole. "We're back on the podium. We also have a new team, which was a challenge in itself. There are some younger members, with Jérémie managing it very well. It's a slightly less hierarchical, younger and more Swiss team.
"There's a really good atmosphere within the group. The team members get along well, work hard, prepare the boat carefully, and sail efficiently. So it's very satisfying to see that reflected in the results."
For third-placed Zen Too, consistency remains the one thing they are still chasing. The weekend started strongly and they spent much of it in the leading group, even if life onboard occasionally felt "chaotic". In yesterday's Genève-Rolle race they rounded the turning mark at Rolle in front, only to be swallowed by a wind hole on the return leg to Geneva before eventually retiring as they reached their home base in Mies. With the long-distance result discarded, victory in today's only race ensured they finished the regatta on a high.
"Today, we did everything we could to recover the points we had lost on Friday," helm Loic Forestier explained afterwards. "After that, it was a rather complicated weekend for us, since we had to retire from the Genève-Rolle race. When we were leading at Rolle, I would never have imagined that we'd end up having to retire from that race, but that's how it goes. In the end, it was a weekend with ups and downs.
"What I'm really very happy about is that the whole team managed to regroup after yesterday, when we decided to stop in order to try to save some energy for today. I think it was the right decision. So I'm very satisfied with the team spirit, the approach we adopted, and the way we operated onboard to manage to bounce back."
Despite finishing fourth overall in Mies, Sails of Change 10 retain the lead in the season standings, now tied on points with Zen Too.
Realteam Spirit's photo-finish second place in Saturday evening's Genève-Rolle-Genève lifted them to fifth overall, while Ylliam 17's victory in the long-distance race was the standout moment of their weekend as they secured sixth place overall in the Mies Grand Prix.
X-Wing completed the standings in seventh, their best result a second place in race three.
Next weekend the TF35 feet will join the Bol d'Or du Léman, the world's largest inland lake regatta alongside over 400 boats to race the 123 kilometre (66.5 nautical miles) course from Geneva to Le Bouveret and back.
A true lake festival, the Bol d'Or du Léman is one of the major events on Lake Geneva each year. Thousands of spectators attended the start of the race, the cannon being fired at 10 am.