News Around the World
Wednesday night beer-can race? Nope, this is the cruising-division start of the last Chicago-Mackinac Race in 2019, seen against the impressively non-marine skyline of the windy city itself. Not surprisingly, at 330 miles the Chicago-Mackinac is the longest fresh water course in the world, often bringing testing, squally bursts of increased wind speed which usually arrive with little or no warning
on the table for their eight rivals, four race wins leaving them with an unassailable lead. But Tabares – five time J/80 World Champion – didn’t think it had been so easy. ‘Looking at the classification it may seem that it was a comfortable victory, but on the penultimate day the alarm sounded onboard! The entire fleet sails well and in this class it is very difficult to overtake on the runs, making the starts very, very important. ‘Yesterday we didn’t start well and we paid dearly for it, so for
today our goal was to start well and not lose sight of Selene-Alifax so that they could surprise us. We are very happy with the title and morale is high for the Copa del Rey. When we planned the season I told Pedro my goal was the Worlds, while his is the Copa del Rey. I hope we can win that too – that way we’ll both be satisfied.’
Will the future be called Swan 80? On 23 June the first of the Swan one-design family’s newest members was launched. Designed like the C-foil 36 by Juan K, she promises even stronger relative performance with the combination of a canting keel and forward adjustable canard. Nautor’s Swan shipyard owner Leonardo Ferragamo could not hide his satisfaction in the project. ‘For us it is one more step towards our lofty ambitions for the Swan classes, but this new length was a special challenge.’ No one could have dreamt that one day we would see a
one-design like this on the maxi stage, supposedly also able to compete well under IRC and ORC in open events. But if anyone could pull it off it would be Nautor’s Swan. Let’s not forget that not only are they the only manufacturer capable of supporting a high- performance 50ft one-design, they are surely also the only company who can build more than one large one-design out of the same ship- yard. Truly a one design family of four… with one more on the way. With things like crew limits yet to be decided there is plenty to
speculate about with Juan K’s new design. The jump from 50 to 80ft may be exponential in loads, but I don’t expect the new fleet to move away from Swan’s owner-driver tradition. It is a fundamental part of the DNA of the Swan Club that has led to their success. I do have a suspicion that comparisons are going to arise with
some of the owners of the Super Series TP52s. The philosophy of both circuits revolves around high-quality events and attractive mostly Mediterranean venues. Also a competitive fleet and boats
30 SEAHORSE
of very similar performance – for the 52s using a tight box rule, for the Club Swan 80 a one-design. Where they differ more is the cost of buying the boats, mainte-
nance and refit costs and the costs of campaigning – in the case of the TP52 with 100 per cent professional teams. Then there are the principles of equality in a one-design class versus the freedom to seek small performance gains within the limits allowed by a box rule. In subtle but critical ways the two concepts are polar opposites and there should always be a market for both types of enthusiast. The road ahead to successfully introduce the Swan 80 as a class
will not be easy or quick for Nautor and will depend a lot on the early performances of the first example, MySong, on the open racing circuit. The complicated baby must grow up, go through childhood and overcome the complications of adolescence. Then in her maturity we will finally see what she is capable of. Personally, I am extremely curious, and the passage of time until
things get serious in summer 2024 will be very long for me. I believe that the Maxi Worlds during the Olympic and America’s Cup year will be the decisive test for this exciting boat. What grade will you give then, distinguished university professors? Carlos Pich
USA The Macs are back This season both the USA and Canada and the border areas in between are finally open for sailing again, so there is now the oppor- tunity for the first time in three years to have full participation in both the Chicago and Bayview to Mackinac races – the most popular offshore races that start and finish in the USA. Both these important events run in mid-July and organisers from
both clubs co-operate by switching who runs first. This year it’s Bayview Yacht Club’s (BYC) turn; it’s the 98th edition which means it has run every year despite world wars and pandemics. To honour this heritage BYC conveys the title ‘Old Goat’ on those who have raced 25 Bayview Mac races, and ‘Grand Ram’ on those who have done 50 races – yes, 50 races. Even race managers who have contributed their time are called
‘Old Fort’, a not-so-concealed variation on the US slang for those of us who have reached revered maturity.
ALAMY
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