„Magnificent, magnificent, magnificent!“ – That’s how Esse 850 IC committee member Donato Perucchi summarized the long weekend at the prize giving ceremony of the Esse 850 Geneva Cup on Sunday afternoon. Well, he could truly not have been more precise as the second event of the Esse 850 IC Cup 2017 simply was as good as it gets: 3 days of uninterrupted sunshine, two lovely dinner parties on the terrace of the Société Nautique de Genève, 10 beautiful races and an exciting battle for the podium.
Most surprising were for sure the nearly picture perfect thermal wind conditions that allowed nice Esse-racing in approximately 6-13 knts on all three days of the event. Conditions that were handled best by the leading team of this young season, the SUI 172 with Alain Marchand. Again starting with three bullets – just like at this year’s Mediterranean Cup – team Ottocinque Due marked their home territory pretty early on in the regatta.
The same story applies for the second team on the podium, the SUI 125 with Urs Oldani, who started the regatta with four 2nd places and never let go of their runner-up position in the total ranking for the remainder of the event. The closest battle was definitely fought for the third place, that was in the end – at the very last chance – claimed of the SUI 135 with Jérôme Butty thanks to their victory in the last race.
The only tiny drop of bitterness was the rather moderate number of teams that have been able to experience this outstanding event of the gentlemen’s class in Geneva. Not because it narrowed the quality of the event, but simply because we wish more (Esse-) sailors could enjoy fine regattas like these. And because it will be very important for the future of our class to provide bigger fleets in order to be able to continuously get event opportunities at locations as stunning as the Société Nautique de Genève and many others in the first place.
Enough said, it remains a last glittering thank you the the organizing committee, the officials as well as the sponsors of the Société Nautique de Genève for hosting the Esse 850 International Class and spending such a great weekend with the gentlemen’s class. In case you wish to wallow in memory of the past days, please enjoy the photo gallery or the official event video. See you all at the Esse 850 Spietz Cup from 9th – 11th of June 2017!
