The 49th edition of the Syz Translémanique en Solitaire will bring together the best sailors on Lake Geneva this weekend, on a demanding course between Geneva and the Vieux-Rhône.
Organized by the Société Nautique de Genève, the Syz Translémanique en Solitaire is considered the most demanding regatta on Lake Geneva. No fewer than 127 sailors will take the start on Saturday at 9:30am, a record number. Single-handed, they will sail to the end of the lake and back, on a 120-kilometer course.
The best sailors on Lake Geneva are here, competing aboard monohulls with one thing in common: a passion for the lake and the pleasure of single-handed sailing. Among the real-time favourites are seven Psaros33 monohulls and one Psaros40, François Thorens’ Cellmen ARDENTIS, a two-time winner of the race (2017 and 2020), which will be closely monitored in view of the weather forecast.
Also worth watching is 17-year-old Alexander de Weck at the helm of the formidable Luthi 1090 Katana, last year’s winner with Charlie Dalin at the helm. De Weck is one of many representatives of the next generation of Swiss sailors: no fewer than 19 competitors are under the age of thirty. Conversely, six competitors are over 65, including Pierre Mercier, a true sailing legend from Lake Geneva, aged 83. Finally, the number of female participants is also on the increase, with eleven women compared to six last year.
Title sponsor of the Syz Translémanique en Solitaire since 2014, Banque Syz is proud to have French sailor Alexia Barrier as ambassador for this edition. A “finisher” in the last Vendée Globe, she has just completed the Round Britain Regatta aboard the famous Pen Duick III, skippered by Eric Tabarly’s daughter. After two weeks on the high seas, this Translémanique – which she’ll be racing on the Bottge family’s Luthi 38 Body & Soul – should be a piece of cake.
Lake Geneva’s premier class will also be well represented: no fewer than 46 Surprises will be at the start, including some of the best specialists in this popular one-design. Twelve identical Grand Surprises have also been entered, and will compete in what promises to be an exciting race-within-a-race.
The weather forecast currently calls for partly sunny weather with possible thunderstorms. These conditions are a far cry from the 2018 edition, when real time winner Patrick Girod (Raijin) smashed the course record in 8h17’30”.