Close User Name Password
Login Register
Travel alerts straight to your inbox:
 

Tags: / / / /

Getting The Wind In Our Hair On Lake Geneva

June 5, 2009 at 11:42 AM | by kate winick | 0 Comments

The first thing you need to know about sailing in Geneva is this word: Alinghi. You’ll see it on bags, on t-shirts, on hats, on bumper stickers, in the newspaper and on television, and, if you’re very lucky, on a sleek grey boat zipping across the lake.

As the defending America’s Cup champion, the Alinghi is beloved by the denizens of this nautically minded city, and its home base, the Société Nautique de Genève, is located right next door to Geneve-Plage. They host a number of large regattas, including the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, Europe’s largest lake sailing race, which goes from one end of the lake to the other, and takes place over a very long day in mid-June.

On weekend mornings, it’s easy to score a prime place by the shore to watch sailboats racing just offshore, but why not join in yourself before the big guys take to the lake later this month?

Conventional sailing wisdom has it that the only thing better than having a boat is having a good friend with a boat. But if you happen to lack one of these in Switzerland, there are plenty of places happy to assist you.

The Société Nautique and the Yacht Club de Geneve both offer sailing lessons, but for instant gratification, the pedalos (small paddleboats) are a great way to see the lake—Les Corsaires and Marti Marine have small sailboats as well as paddleboats. For something with a little more horsepower, CGN is the big name in lake cruising, with their huge paddle steamers and dinner cruises, but we freely admit to being biased in favor of something without an engine.

On this particular trip, an engine might have been nice since when the breeze on Lac Leman is blowing, it really blows. Thankfully, the day we picked was not so crazily windy, and the 30 boats on the line, Aspro 870s, were struggling a bit. But taking a cue from those around us, we sat back and relaxed into the drift. As Genevans know better than anyone, any day on the water is a good day.

Related Stories
· Geneva Field Trip [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jim Bungener]

0 Comments

Post a Comment

Return to » Getting The Wind In Our Hair On Lake Geneva

Leave a Comment

Not yet a member? Click here to become a member.

Already a member? Log in below:

Comment with your Facebook account.