Here you’ll find a detailed overview of the most exciting events of the summer.

Brugger and Bühler Test the Rio Waters

A win in the final medal race has shown that anything is possible on the waters of the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games. Two weeks ago GYC members Nathalie Brugger and Matías Bühler had their first opportunity to sail a test event in Rio gathering key information and insights on the course areas inside and outside the bay. 

They will need to try to spend as much time there as possible before the games. Contrary to what most of the competitors believed, the area had surprisingly strong sea breezes over 10 – 15 knots and sometimes three-metre-high waves. This certainly provided a taste of what could be to come in future years. 

The racing itself was tactically challenging on the waters of Guanarana Bay. This was due mostly to 40 degree wind shifts and big pressure differences across the course areas. There were also a few days of no wind - but this is just another aspect of the sport. Placing 8th overall (and 7th nationally) at the end of the competition week is certainly positive. A further win in the final double-points medal race proved that the team is well and truly capable to race at the front.

This test racing experience, combined with their experience onshore, paves the way to helping their pursuit of the next medal. 

It is now time for them to refocus as the main goal of this year’s season will take place in a few weeks’ in Santander, Spain, with the combination of the ISAF World Championships and National Olympic Qualification.

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Gstaad Yacht Club Summer Wrap-Up

Posse and Eriksson Take Top Honours in Annual Rally

Challenging conditions and scenic roads were the highlights of the Gstaad Yacht Club’s eigth annual “Classic Car Rally & Yachting”. 

The GYC held its “Classic Car Rally & Yachting” on August 16, in a joint venture with the Gstaad Automobile Club (GAC). 

This year there were several changes to the program. To maintain the element of suspense and equally challenge all co-pilots, the road book was only given out Saturday morning, over coffee.

The automobiles dated from 1984 all the way back to the 30’s (!). There was a great diversity of models and marks, ranging from Aston Martins (DB 5 and 6), Corvettes, Delahayes (1937), Ferraris, MGBs, several Mercedes, Porsches, and a selection of other rarer makes.

Lucky weather conditions allowed convertibles to drive topless on some of most scenic back roads from Gstaad over the Jaunpass, crossing the picturesque Lake Gruyère via Canton Fribourg. The roads continued back into Canton Vaud, passing Moudon, Echallens and Cossonay. Finally, the route descended through Bière and Gimel, with fantastic views onto Lake Geneva, and on to the final destination in Rolle. 

This year’s special stages, contrary to previous years, demanded more imagination from the participants then the supporters. A pappara(zzi)lling quiz requested different creative picture tasks along the way. Cooling feet in running water or finding their car next to one of the same colour, make, model and/or year are just two examples out of the ten requests.

The drivers reached their final destination, which was hosted at an incredible site on the waterfront. There, thanks to the generous support of one GYC member, a BBQ had been prepared on their property right on the lake – their private pontoon was the perfect location for the later sailing portion of the event.

Wind conditions were calm and did not allow all participants to complete a race in groups of three boats. The last challenge was a “silver quiz” identifying ten pieces of an antique sterling silver collection. The final results combined the scores from the driving, photo quiz, “silver quiz” and sailing portions of the day. 

The trophy went to GYC member Arvid Posse and his pilot Carl Johan Eriksson, who drove a 1969 Volvo P1800 S. Second place went to Peter and Maria Theile in a 1970 Mercedes 280 SE; while third place was earned by GYC Honorary President George Nicholson and his co-pilot Mauro Bonaccini in a 1961 Bentley S2.