Chris Rast & Team EFG Bank – King Of The Mountains At Swiss Open
The famous windmachine on Lake Lucerne in Central Switzerland did not work very well for the Swiss Open Championships last weekend, as it was simply too hot with temperatures far over 30 degrees celcius even in the mountains. Only on the opening Friday, the thermic breeze established and offered some good races in 10 to 15 Knots of wind. But the conditions were tricky and unstable with big shifts and gusts. On Saturday and Sunday, the race comittee of the Regattaverein Brunnen did their very best to enable a racecourse but failed as the breeze finally became too shifty and weak. Time enough though for the teams to enjoy swimming in the cristal clear waters of Lake Lucerne and discover the beautiful surroundings.
With 11 participating boats from Italy, Germany, Estonia and Switzerland, the fleet was not very numerous, but it was top-class. Swiss Team "EFG-Bank" with Chris Rast, Dani Rast, Stefan Pulver, Rene Schenk and Simon Thönen showed the most constant performance in the competition (2/2/1) and have finally been crowned as Swiss Open Champions 2012. Italian Team "Altea" with Andrea Racchelli on the helm finished in 2nd with the score 1/3/3. Jean-Marc Monnard (SUI) with "Poizon Rouge" completed the podium as 3rd (3/4/2).
Many thanks to the Regattaverein Brunnen for the fabulous hosting at their very nice venue and for the swiss-like, perfect organisation.
8/20/2012
Michael Good, SMCA Chairman
