Highlights from The Bol d’Or du Léman

Ylliam XII Comptoir Immobilier wins the Bol d’Or du Léman
The 87th edition of the Bol d’Or du Léman lived up to all expectations, delivering an unpredictable and thrilling race. From the opening hours, Bertrand Demole’s TF35 Ylliam XII Comptoir Immobilier established itself among the frontrunners in a tightly packed multihull fleet.

X-Wing, skippered by Franco-Italian sailor Marco Favale, briefly took the lead along the Lavaux shoreline and reached the halfway mark with an advantage of around 100 metres over its closest rival. The duel between the two leaders continued throughout the return leg towards Geneva, with Ylliam 17 joining the contest as the fleet entered the Petit-Lac.

In the final kilometres of the race, however, Ylliam XII made the most effective strategic decisions and ultimately secured victory in 11 hours, 48 minutes and 53 seconds, finishing 3 minutes and 16 seconds ahead of X-Wing and 6 minutes and 58 seconds ahead of Ylliam 17.

Okalys, the leading Decision 35 and first archimedean multihull, occasionally benefited from windless patches to close the gap on the leaders. It eventually finished sixth overall, just 18 minutes behind the winner.

The top ten boats crossed the finish line within less than one hour of each other.

A controversial finish
The arrival of the leading TF35s sparked controversy. Both Ylliam XII Comptoir Immobilier and Ylliam 17 raced with six crew members on board despite having declared seven before the start. The resulting weight difference—estimated at around 100 kilograms—was considered by the race committee to be in breach of the TF35 class rules.

As a result, both boats were initially listed as unclassified pending a formal decision by the International Jury, and the crew of X-Wing, led by Marco Favale, was provisionally celebrated as the race winner.

Following the jury hearing, however, the procedure against the two TF35s was deemed invalid due to procedural irregularities. The final classification therefore remained unchanged and reflected the actual order of finish across the line.

Bol de Vermeil: K2 takes its revenge
K2, the remarkable monohull owned by the de Weck family, claimed the Bol de Vermeil with a commanding lead of 53 minutes and 56 seconds over the impressive Croatian prototype Stravaganza.

Leading throughout the race, the monohull skippered by Alexander de Weck and sailed by a crew of ten never left any opportunity for its competitors to challenge for the lead. Renowned Lake Geneva tactician Jean-Pascal Chatagny, together with sail-performance specialist Michel Vaucher, undoubtedly played an important role in the victory.

Measuring 47 feet in length and carrying 200 square metres of sail upwind, K2 features a four-metre draft and a beam of nearly nine metres. The victory represents sweet revenge after the 2025 edition, sailed in lighter conditions, when K2 was beaten by the Libera Carondimonio, famously purchased by a group of friends for just CHF 3,000.

François Thorens, whose Psaros 40 Cellcosmet underwent extensive modifications over the winter, completed the podium with an impressive third-place finish.

Sarah Jaccaud shines in the Surprise class
The sailor from the Cercle de la Voile de Lausanne and her crew—Antoine Costa, Pascal Lehmann and Cédric Jaccaud—won the largest class of this year’s Bol d’Or, the Surprise fleet, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026 and attracted no fewer than 101 entries.

Sarah Jaccaud had already won the class in 2021 with the same crew. Her boat, Miss Tick, also won the Genève–Rolle–Genève race last week, on that occasion helmed by her sister Mélanie Henry.

“We are extremely happy with this victory. The battle was intense throughout the race and required constant focus. We particularly enjoyed the run down towards Le Bouveret in the south-westerly breeze on Saturday afternoon. In the end, everything was decided between Pointe à la Bise and the finish line. Five boats were still within striking distance, and despite the fatigue, we managed to hold on to the lead. The night felt very long, and we sailed countless tacks towards Yvoire.”

This was Sarah Jaccaud’s 26th Bol d’Or du Léman, having raced in the Surprise class for the past 17 years.

Johanne Girard finished second aboard CER1, while legendary sailor René Mermoud, sailing alongside round-the-world sailor Isidore Stitelmann, recent winner of the Mini Globe Race, completed the podium.

A strong group of competitors followed close behind, highlighting once again the exceptional level of competition within the Surprise fleet.

Statistics
At 11 hours and 48 minutes, the winner’s finishing time may appear slow compared with the Bol d’Or record of 5 hours and 1 minute, set by Triga IV in 1994, or the Ruban Bleu record of 3 hours and 43 minutes, established by Realteam in 2023.

However, it represents the second-fastest winning time of the past five editions and the fourth-fastest of the decade, despite a period largely characterised by light-wind conditions.

The last time the race enjoyed consistently strong winds was in 2017, when a solid north-easterly breeze enabled Ernesto Bertarelli to win aboard the Decision 35 Alinghi in 5 hours and 11 minutes.

A young crew wins on corrected time
The corrected-time classification is designed to reward outstanding racing performances regardless of budget by applying a handicap coefficient based on factors such as boat length, weight and sail area.

This year’s victory went to the Luthi 952 Tarango, skippered by Alexis Pariat, a young sailor representing both the CNM and CNC. He assembled a crew of friends with whom he previously raced in the Optimist class. Now aged between 16 and 22, they have built a highly competitive keelboat racing team.

“We are extremely proud of this victory. Winning the Bol d’Or is a major achievement for us. Our goal is to continue growing as a team and perhaps one day acquire a Psaros 33. The ultimate dream would be to race a TF35—or even a TP52.”

Alongside his racing on Lake Geneva, Alexis also competes internationally in the WASZP class under Swiss colours. He hopes to represent Switzerland at a future Olympic Games in the Switch category, a one-design foiling class that could potentially become Olympic in the future.

Tarango finished ahead of Federico Crova’s Esse 850 Poisson Garou 2 and Lionel Maret’s Modulo 93.

And among the other one-design classes…
The Grand Surprise fleet, with 18 boats on the starting line, was won by the ever-reliable Little Nemo, skippered by Bernard Borter, who led the category throughout the race and finished 60th overall.

He finished ahead of Morpho, sailed by Jean-Marie Mechelany, and Manawa, skippered by Nicolas Denervand.

In the Psaros 33 class, Pétrel3, helmed by Cyrus Golchan, secured victory and an impressive 23rd place overall ahead of Carpediem Cube, skippered by Grégoire Bordier, who returned to top form after dismasting the previous week.

Arnaud Gavairon, sailing Pétrel, completed the podium.

Finally, DCM Systematic, skippered by Valentin Bovey, claimed victory in the M2 catamaran category.

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