Moving like the wind

It was that time again and Renaud Stitelmann, captain of the www.harsch.ch was facing his annual dilemma – how to give his team a fighting chance. The famous annual Bol d’Or race that runs from Geneva at one end of Lac Léman to Le Bouveret at the other and attracts avid sailing teams from around Europe (not least that of the world famous Alinghi) was just a few weeks away and Harsch, happy to support its collaborators and help them in their favourite sport, had agreed to sponsor the M2 boat which Renaud had just purchased with his friends. “We knew Renaud’s capabilities,” said Betrand Harsch, “and as Skipper we knew he wouldn’t let us down.”

As usual there were to be several hundred boats in the race – mostly mono-hulls or multi-hulls. The multi-hulls were made up of two categories – the M1s (the big multi-hulls such as the famous Alinghi, a Decision 35 (D35)) and the M2s – at just 8.53 metres (28 feet) long, Alinghi’s little brother. Stitelmann’s boat, the www.harsch.ch, being in this last M2 multi-hull category would be up against some stiff competition.

Moving like the wind by Ita McCobb (PDF format - 1.12Mb)