Rocky seas Copyright: Carlo Borlenghi

"I salute you", said Thierry Leret, president of the race committee. As north-easterly winds battered the boats at a rate of 30 knots, two teams in particular had a successful weekend on the water.

The Dragon race was completely dominated by Russia, with Russian teams taking all top three podium places. Newcomer to the Primo Cup, Dmitry Samokhin, took first place with his crew on Strange Little Girl. Behind him in second and third place respectively were fellow Russians Anatoly Loginov with Annapurna, and Victor Fogelson with Sunflower.

There was success for Monaco in the J24 group with frequent sailor at the Monaco Yacth Club and regular participant in the Primo Cup, Francois Brenac, taking first place with his crew on St Andrews Insecurities. Swedish Mariane Schoke took second, sailing on Julia. A second Monegasque triumph went to Claude Rodelato who came in third on Topo Too.

The Surprise group lived up to its name as two Swiss battled it out for first and second place. With 23 different teams entered, a wholly Swiss podium was unexpected, but Alexa Bezel pipped Arnaud Psarofaguis to the post on Aprotec to take first. In third place was fellow Swiss-man, Jérome Clerc, who sailed with Genève Airport.

Group Star was again successful for home-nation Monaco, with first and third place being occupied by men from Monaco. Filippo Orlando took prime position on Acciuga, followed by Swiss Urs Infanger on Kalafati, and Monaco-based Mario Orlando coming in third on Filance. Back after a five year absence, the Star group was one of the toughest races, with seconds separating the top three competitors on the finish line.

Germany finally got on the podium in the Platu group, with Jens Ahlgrimm taking first place on Grun-Farrbarz. Fellow German Sebastien Sturm came in second with his crew on Gamberro,  while Switzerland experienced its fifth win of the day with Ulivier Ryhner taking third with Le Cactus.

The second and highly-anticipated part of the 28th Primo Cup begins on Friday. Stay tuned!

Elsa Carpenter