10th Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy: Olympian’s triple hat trick

After her wins in 2014 and in 2019 the stunning Olympian did it again and won the 10th edition of the Gstaad Centenary Trophy in the waters of Saint Tropez today. The gaff sloop from the mighty PClass, skippered by French America’s Cup star Bruno Troublé thus becomes the very first triple winner of the world’s only race dedicated to centenarian yachts.

The P Class Olympian (William Gardner, 1913) skippered by Bruno Troublé won the 10th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy after a match racing finish just ahead of the NY50 Spartan (Herreshoff, 1915) skippered by the American Peter Isler, whilst the other PClass Chips (Starling Burgess 1913) took third place.

This anniversary edition will not doubt remain engraved in the memories of all participants and fans: an intense race and a great duel between the two leaders, up until the very last metres to the finish line. “An unforgettable regatta!” said an elated Bruno Troublé, who wins the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy for the third time, thus becoming the first skipper doing a triple in the history of the event.

Thursday is the traditional day for challenges during the Voiles de Saint-Tropez. This year, almost 20 centenary yachts entered the 10th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy. Sunshine, blue skies, an easterly wind of about ten knots: champagne conditions for the 19 classic yachts, that battled on a 7.5 nautical mile course in the Bay of Saint Tropez.

Since its creation, the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy is raced under a Pursuit Race format. Thanks to a special rating system, the competitors cross the starting line according to their handicap, with the first boat to cross the finish line in front of Saint Tropez to be declared the winner.

An incredible duel with an America’s Cup feel

Despite having 19 strong competitors on the start line of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy, the race panned out as a true match-racing, a duel between Olympian, skippered by Bruno Troublé, and Spartan, led by two-time America’s Cup winner, Peter Isler from the USA with a series of tacks and control moves on each other. A game that both sailors know and play well, but in the end it was Frenchman Bruno Troublé taking the lead over Peter Isler just a few lengths from the finish line. Olympian thus becomes the very first triple winner of the world’s only race dedicated to centenarian yachts

“What a great race today, we won so I’m happy but it’s been also an incredible race to celebrate the 10th edition, as it was a very close one. It proves that this is a concept, a format that works really well. How sad are races where one boat has a 500 metre lead over the second boat? But this is a great format, especially when there’s a close finish like today. It’s the boat’s third victory, it’s really an awesome performance.” Said Bruno Troublé, crowned three-time winner of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy today.

“This anniversary edition was a real success. On the water, the regatta was exceptional with a very exciting finale. It will go down in the history of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy because it was so intense and with such a great winner.” Declared Manrico Iachia, Commodore of the Gstaad Yacht Club.

Tomorrow morning, an agreement will be signed between the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez -the Voiles’ organizing club- and the Gstaad Yacht Club. This twinning between the two clubs aims at reinforcing the relationship set up between the two clubs over the last 10 years.

The Trophy, awarded every year, is also centenary, as it was created by Wakely and Wheeler in London in 1911, exactly 100 years before the first edition of the regatta.

More information and a gallery of stunning pictures from past editions can be found at the newly launched Centenary Trophy website: https://gyccentenarytrophy.com

Past winners of the Centenary Trophy
2011: Bonafide (1899)
2012: Marigold (1892)
2013: due to adverse weather conditions the title was not awarded
2014: Olympian (1913)
2015: Oriole (1905)
2016: Spartan (1913)
2017: Tilly XV (1912)
2018: Tilly XV (1912)
2019: Olympian (1913)

2021: Olympian (1913)

Editors’ notes

 

The Gstaad Yacht Club

The Gstaad Yacht Club was founded in 1998 by a group of sailor enthusiasts with the vision to “create a unique global yacht club away from the waters, instead of another local club by the waters”. Based in the Swiss mountains and in the beginning, very often acknowledged with surprise, the GYC developed to a club with 400 members from over 30 different countries and to a place where members and their guests love to meet. The GYC supports sailing projects on all levels from juniors to professional sailors and it has become a solid force on the Swiss sailing scene and especially among Olympic sailing and the classic yachts.

 

Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez

Dating back to 1862, the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez is one of the older Nautical Clubs – perhaps the second oldest in France! Coming from all over the world, sailors enjoy sailing and challenging themselves in this Bay of Saint-Tropez, an idyllic place!

With more than 500 members, the club organizes or co-organizes more than 15 sailing events year-round including the Festival ARMEN, Au large de Saint-Tropez, Les Dames de Saint-Tropez, the Rolex Giraglia, the Trophée Bailli de Suffren, the Voiles de Saint-Tropez, Les Voiles d’Automne, in addition to the activities of the Pôle Moteur such as fishing, other Club outings and exceptional events (Dragon Worldcup, Swan, Sail GP…)

Media liaison: Soazig Guého & Carla Anselmi

– mobile  + 33 6 60 08 75 44 & + 39 347 46 32 757

– email: soazig@palolemcom.com & carlanselmi2@gmail.com

Photographer: Jürg Kaufmann

– email: juerg@go4image.com

– Copyright: Juerg Kaufmann / GYC

Gstaad Yacht Club-web:

http://www.gstaadyachtclub.com

Managing Director: Cindy Schoenrich

Email: cindy@gstaadyachtclub.com