Team Tilt gave a taste of their ambition this weekend at the opening Decision 35 Grand Prix of the season, notching up three wins out of six races over the three-day event.
The weekend got off to a slow start when racing was cancelled on Friday, day one, due to unstable conditions. On Saturday, hopes were high, but the fleet waited out on the water for six hours until conditions settled enough for the race committee to run two races just after 1700. This was enough for Team Tilt to assert themselves and the squad finished day two in the lead.
“We had a start routine and a precise strategy, and we stuck to it,” explained helmsman Arnaud Psarofaghis. “We read the course well, on board everything went very smoothly, each crewmember is comfortable in his role. It was a pleasure to sail with such a skilled team!
“This first victory bodes well, but the series is not about one regatta, we have to do it all over again at the next one and the one after that… Between now and the next Grand Prix, we will review some specific details that we spotted this weekend.”
While Team Tilt was notching up wins on Lake Geneva, other members of the squad were racing the Olympic Week on Lake Garda. Sébastien Schneiter and Lucien Cujean, racing the 49er, finished 15th out of 43 competitors. “We have made a lot of progress and are very happy with our performance,” said helmsman Schneiter. “It really feels that we have turned a corner compared with the beginning of last season and are racing at the level of some very good teams.”
The next Grand Prix of the Decision 35 Trophy is on the 23-24 May at the Club Nautique de Versoix.
Opening Grand Prix – crew
Arnaud Psarofaghis, helmsman
Tanguy Cariou
Bryan Mettraux
Nils Palmieri
Alex Schneiter
Jonas Schagen
Opening Grand Prix – results
1. Team Tilt: 1 4 1 1 4 (5) = 11
2. Alinghi: 2 3 (6) 5 1 2 = 13
3. Zen Too: (9) 1 2 6 2 6 = 17
4. Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing: 3 2 (9) 8 6 1 = 20
5. Veltigroup-Swisscom: 4 (12) 7 2 5 3 = 21
6. Racing Django: 8 5 4 4 7 (9) = 28
7. Realteam: 7 (9) 5 3 9 4 = 28
8. Oryx: 10 8 3 9 3 (11) = 33
9. Okalys: 5 10 8 7 (11) 7 = 37
10. Ylliam – Comptoir Immobilier: 6 7 7 (11) 10 19 = 40
11. Mobimo: (11) 6 10 10 8 8 = 42
– Team Tilt Media
