Mailly Grand Prix

Mailly 2026: The Penultimate Card Before Crowning the TF35 Trophy Champion

Four days to overturn a championship — or lock it down. From 27 to 30 August 2026, the Mailly Grand Prix hosts the penultimate round of the TF35 Trophy on the Petit Lac. At this stage of the season, the scores are tight, nerves are frayed, and each race can reshuffle the hierarchy. On these 35-foot flying catamarans capable of exceeding 68 km/h, the margin between the title and regret is measured in a handful of points — and sometimes a few centimetres of foil adjustment.

A High-Stakes Appointment in the Standings

Historically organised in partnership with Club Nautique de Versoix, the Mailly event has earned a reputation as the season's litmus test. Conditions here are treacherous: wind oscillating between 4 and 15 knots, capable of shifting from flat calm to exploitable gusts within minutes. This is the kind of race course that rewards complete crews — those who can manage both the wind holes and unleash full power when the breeze builds.

In 2025, Sails of Change 8 dominated the event and consolidated their overall lead. But Sails of Change 10, after a difficult start to the regatta, snatched the podium on the wire — a reminder that on Lake Geneva, nothing is decided until the final mark.

For 2026, the arithmetic is crystal clear. Five Grands Prix are already in the books — Nyon, Mies, Genève-Rolle-Genève, Bol d'Or, Crans — with only the Geneva finale in October following Mailly. A victory here could virtually seal the trophy. A stumble, and everything will be decided a month from now.

Format and Technical Challenges: The Petit Lac Shows No Mercy

The "banana" course format — upwind, downwind — favours pure speed and quality of manoeuvres in flight. The pace is relentless: up to five races per day, run back-to-back without respite.

• Variable wind: the 4 to 15-knot range imposes a constant choice between caution in light air and aggression as soon as gusts allow continuous foiling
• Surgical precision: the TF35s, 15-metre catamarans equipped with semi-automated flight assistance systems, tolerate no approximation — a poor foil angle, a weight penalty (the class rules require crew weight between 450 and 500 kg), and you're tumbling down the leaderboard
• Short races, decisive starts: in such fast races, the advantage at the gun is often irreversible, with disturbed air making recoveries extremely costly

The Six Crews in Contention

The fleet, compact and experienced, includes no also-rans.

• Sails of Change 8 (SUI 8) — Yann Guichard / Duncan Späth: provisional championship leaders, the crew displays formidable consistency with victories at Mies, the Bol d'Or and Crans. The logical favourite.
• Ylliam 17 (SUI 17) — Julien Firmenich: winner of the Nyon GP, consistent since the season's start. The best-placed challenger to turn the tables.
• Sails of Change 10 (SUI 10) — Duncan Späth / Yann Guichard: the outsider capable of brilliant strikes — second at the Bol d'Or and Geneva, this team can emerge at the worst possible moment for their rivals.
• ZEN Too (SUI 4) — Guy de Picciotto: several podiums on the scorecard this season (second at the Bol d'Or, second at Crans), always in the hunt when it counts.
• Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier — Bertrand Demole: an up-and-down season, but with the capacity to surprise, as shown by their second place at Nyon.
• X-WING (SUI 888): the improving team, capable of shaking up the mid-fleet and stealing precious points from title contenders.

Find detailed sheets on the competing boats at spencer.club.

Three Keys to Victory

Stay Flying at All Costs

On often flat water, the ability to remain foiling through transitions — tacks, gybes, gust passages — will make the difference. Beyond 30 knots of boat speed, every manoeuvre becomes a high-risk operation where the slightest foil drop costs boat lengths.

Zero Breakdowns

Foil systems are the TF35s' Achilles heel. A mechanical failure, a faulty sensor, and an entire race — perhaps an entire day — vanishes. Technical preparation ahead of the Grand Prix will be as decisive as talent at the helm.

Win the Start

With races this short, the first leg often dictates the result. Helmsmen who master the timing at the gun and choose the right side of the course will take an immediate option on the race win.

Rendezvous on 27 August

From day one, we'll know whether Sails of Change 8 can put the overall standings on lock or if Ylliam 17 has the means to reopen the title race. Four days of racing, up to twenty possible races, and a championship that may well be decided here, on the waters of the Petit Lac, even before the Geneva finale in October.

Follow all the news from this race and the complete TF35 season calendar on spencer.club.