With the threat of storms gone and the rain clearing, a beautiful 10 to 13 knot from the South West, all was set on Lake Neuchâtel for a perfect day’s sailing. The teams looked resplendent in their national jerseys, the SSL47 yachts were glistening with their gold wraps, and the verdant Alpen background made the perfect amphitheatre for racing.
Race 2
It was a bizarre opening stanza with Morocco lining up early and then stalling, Tahiti executing a perfect start, Seychelles crossing late on port tack, and Mozambique very late after an issue dropping the kite in practice. Things settled down though on the first upwind leg, and both Allan Julie’s Seychelles Vann Swet team and Hakim Hasni’s Morocco Atlas Lions must have rued their starts, as distances held steady to the Tahiti Black Pearls, showing they had the speed to challenge the more experienced team, but time on distance at the start is critical. To progress on the Road to Rio they cannot afford to make this kind of mistake.
The race was processional from this point, with the Black Pearls showing great humour by lining up on the yacht downwind as if they were paddling on a proa, while a penalty awarded to Vann Swet wasn’t enough for the Atlas Lions to capitalise and gain a place. Mozambique came back in terms of time and distance, showing their potential, but their OCS in race 1 and spinnaker problem in race 2 leaves them languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Race 3
It was great to see all four teams fiercely contesting the start, with Tahiti having to thread the needle between Morocco and the Seychelles, while Mozambique climbed above Morocco, who had to slow down dramatically after lining up a fraction too early.
Tahiti and the Seychelles then went toe to toe in a boatspeed battle to the left hand side of the course with spectacular drone footage directly above giving the thousands of viewers watching live a superb view of how the two yachts were set up and the effort the sailors were putting in to gain the slightest advantage.
Meanwhile Morocco and Mozambique crossed tacks moving from the right to the left hand layline, with the two pairs of national teams engaged in great duels at the front and back of the fleet.
The Black Pearls and Vann Swet battle continued the entirety of the downwind leg, but the Atlas Lions and Gala-Gala duel was terminated abruptly with the Mozambique team given a spinnaker hoist penalty, but failed to execute it quickly enough, being disqualified from the race. The potential of this team is huge, and they are fast through the water, but their decision-making needs to improve.
The Tahitian Black Pearls made no mistake, matching the Seychelles Vann Swet team manoeuvres to maintain a slender lead over them for the entirety of the final lap. The usually jovial French Polynesian sailors were deep in concentration until they could finally break into their now trademark ‘proa paddle’ celebration at the finish.
Half way through the series the leaderboard is taking shape, with Tahiti opening a slender one point gap over the Seychelles in the two SSL Gold Cup Rio 2026 qualification positions.
Race 4
The final race of the day started in stunning conditions, with the sun shining and a beautiful 12 knot breeze across the entire lake. Morocco took the pin end, while Tahiti came in at pace on the committee boat end, with Mozambique just behind and Seychelles on their hip. The time on the water for the newer teams was showing, and this was by far the best contested start.
When the Seychelles were forced to tack away, having been sailing in the disturbed air of Mozambique, things were looking grim for the Yann Swet team, but a big right shift in the wind propelled them from last to first, with the luckless Gala-Gala team caught on the left and dropping down the leaderboard.
The Seychelles Vann Swet team rounded the top mark clear ahead, while the Tahitian Black Pearls were awarded a penalty for deploying the bowsprit too early during their spinnaker hoist. They executed their 360 degree turn quickly to avoid the fate which befell the Gala-Gala team in race 3, just holding off the Moroccan Atlas Lion sailors to maintain second place, but it cost them dearly against their rivals at the top; they rounded the leeward gate a full minute behind the Seychelles team.
Seychelles skipper Allan Julie did a great job of keeping a loose cover on Teva Plichart and the Tahiti team, maintaining a 250 metre lead over their rivals on the upwind leg in the freshening breeze. The teams were now hiking as hard as possible, having to spill some wind in the powerful mainsails of the SSL47 yachts, with sheet loads building and the potential for boat handling errors rising exponentially. Meanwhile a poor tack for Morocco allowed Mozambique to sneak into third.
Downwind the yachts were ripping once the huge spinnakers were deployed, with the Seychelles Vann Swet team making the best of it, extending their lead over the Tahiti Black Pearls and going on to take the win. It was great to see Mozambique finish third and end a difficult day on a high note.
Mozambique Skipper Deizy Nhaquile was happy with the conclusion of their day, putting things in perspective as it’s a steep learning curve on the SSL47 yachts, “We feel better now after the last race, but we need to remember that Mozambique doesn't have boats like this, so we are trying to improve and use everything for learning, and maybe tomorrow will be better for us.”
For the Moroccan Atlas Lion Sailors there were a couple of moments where things went wrong, and mainsheet trimmer Marouane Hasni reflected on how they they refocus after an incident, “It's not easy to keep everybody calm, but we have good discipline and we need to remember this is sailing, and it's like that. The SSL47 is a fast and very challenging yacht, and we’ve not had a lot of time on this boat.”
Ahead of Golden Thursday, Marouane added, “We must be first tomorrow. We will do our best; good starts, good concentration, and we will go to sleep very early tonight! There will be more wind, and for us it's not easy, because the manoeuvres, when it's windy, are a little bit more difficult. If you make a small mistake, the boat can have a big heel or capsize, and we think all the time for the safety of the crew while also going fast.”
Seychelles tactician Curtis Allcorn came ashore with a very happy Vann Swet team after their final race victory, “With the first two races being so close to getting a win, then pulling it off, it felt like a good payoff. It's probably even sweeter than two victories.”
The downwind pace of the Vann Swet team was particularly impressive, which Curtis was very happy about, “It's quite definitely a new boat for us, and in a sense we are still trying to figure it out and master it. It's coming together, and when we looked back, we saw we had the best pace.”]
On the experience of racing in the qualifiers Curtis added, “We race in the Seychelles on little boats - a Far East 28 - and it's a really good group sailing for fun. The SSL has been fantastic and we now have new goals ahead of us that we hadn't seen before, so it's really good.”
Black Pearls skipper Teva Plichart relished the conditions today, and is looking forward to tomorrow’s showdown, “It was great to sail with that kind of wind. It was a little bit shifty, so we had a tactical race. It was a really, really nice day. Our strategy will remain the same tomorrow. We know that we need to finish in the top two and it seems like the Seychelles and us are a little bit above the two others, but it's not finished yet. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day. If they win or if we win, it doesn't matter, we just want to finish in the top two.”
I asked Teva about the new ‘Proa Paddle’ celebration that the team have adopted, “Proa is one of the national sports in Tahiti, and we have one of the best trainers here in Teriimana Degage, our grinder, so it felt like a good idea for a bit of fun!”
On whether the celebration is going to stay, Teva added, “We need to win for that!” with his teammates laughing beside him.
Regatta Director Paul Hutton-Ashkenny was delighted to get three races in after the frustrations with the wind and storms yesterday, “Things were tough yesterday. We always knew it was going to be difficult with the weather forecast, and it was right on the money. So today we had high hopes, and it couldn't have gone much better. The conditions were just perfect with 10 to 15 knots all day long and we’re back on schedule.”
On the situation going into the final day Paul added, “It's great, especially when you've got three new countries joining the SSL family for the qualifying this week, seeing them competing at this level, fighting it out tomorrow with two double point races. It's going to be great and I'm really looking forward to it.”
It couldn’t be closer at the top with Tahiti and Seychelles tied on 14 points. Today was Lake Neuchâtel at its finest and the scene is set perfectly for an epic showdown.
Having the Tahiti team in town is a bonus for the teams, as tonight they are cooking their national dish of ‘poisson cru’ - tuna marinated briefly in lime juice and tossed with crisp vegetables and rich coconut milk - which made them such a favourite with the other teams during the inaugural SSL Gold Cup in Gran Canaria. The community spirit amongst the sailors here is strong, with the bonds growing by the day.
Racing will be starting at the earlier time of 09:30 CET, so be sure to set your alarm and tune in to https://www.youtube.com/starsailors to catch the concluding action!
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