Décision to go fast

The Décision 35 (D35) catamaran is a strict one-design concept designed by Sébastien Schmidt and the Décision boatyard design team. Bertrand Cardis, Décision boatyard owner, explains the philosophy behind the design: “The singular goal was to build a fast, one-design catamaran for exciting lake racing,” he says, adding: “Conditions are light on Lake Geneva so we wanted a boat that would tack nearly as well as a monohull.” The D35 is constructed entirely with cutting edge materials and its improved aerodynamics result in a lighter and faster craft. With the distinctive feature of three hulls, the outer two acting as floats and the central hull acting as a strengthening structure, this catamaran is well suited to racing.

“The idea was that we wanted all competitors to cross the start line with the same boat and the same performance and for crew work to make the difference in the results at the end of the day,” explains Cardis. “We did this by cutting all the technological research, thus curbing the cost of campaigning.”

The Class was founded in 2004 by Swiss sailors for friendly competition on the lakes and the spirit of the event is owner sailor. “We currently have 10 boats on Lake Geneva and there is interest to build several more,” says Cardis. “The development of this championship has been great. We have a lot of professional sailors who are interested in racing on the lake. We will probably increase the number of boats by five or six, although I don’t think the Championship will be able to live in its current form with more than 15 boats, as it would become too complicated to organise. The future of the Class depends on the owners’ goals, a clear one has always been to keep the price down and invest in the training of the crew.”

Design team Damien Cardenoso, Bertrand Cardis, Christian Favre, Jean-Marie Fragnière, Gérard Gautier, Rémi Laval-Jeantet, Sébastien Schmidt and Steve Wasem
Length overall LOA 49ft (14.95m)
Hull length 35ft (10.81m)
Width of hull 22ft (6.89m)
Overall width 29ft (8.74m)
Dry weight 1200kg
Mainsail area 878ft2 (81.6m2)
Genoa area 762ft2 (70.8m2)
Jib area 438ft2 (40.7m2)
Top speed 25 knots
Crew 5 (minimum) – 6 men or 7 women (maximum)


The relationship between the Swiss Defender, Alinghi and Décision Boatyard is a strong one; the yard built SUI64, the 2003 America's Cup winning yacht and SUI75, the 2005 America's Cup Class Champion. The association was further deepened for Alinghi’s 32nd America’s Cup defence and the yard – in collaboration with the Alinghi boat builders – also built SUI91 in 2006 and then the America’s Cup winning yacht SUI100 in 2007.