Proven concept next stage
Back in the day when we all rocked down- wind in our slow displacement machines there was far less obvious difference on display between the abilities of the crews. On a breezy downhill slide most made their biggest gains by not wiping out to lee- ward… or worse. But since the rise of professionalism in
sailing and the rapid development in the design and technology of the boats them- selves keelboat racing has gradually become more polarised into amateur and pro fleets. Over time the gap between the two has grown and continues to do so. Today some of the latest high-performance grand prix machines at the extreme end are simply way beyond the ability – and financial means – of grass-roots sailors. While the 49er is an Olympic dinghy and not a keelboat, it is a handy example.
44 SEAHORSE
In the right hands the double-handed, twin-trapeze Olympic skiff is a rocket ship that will run circles around the former hot dinghies of the day. In the right hands it also looks simple. Yet, left to enthusiastic and otherwise
capable amateurs who cut their teeth in popular racing dinghies from a previous era, when it comes to transferring their skills to the 49er for some close-quarters one-design racing, they might as well be trying to juggle fire torches in the dark on a unicycle. A similar experience gulf has been devel-
oping within the big boat world. Aside from small sportsboats, high-performance sailing has never been so far out of reach for amateur sailors. The growing gap is producing a void that can be clearly seen at the world’s top regattas, many of which have been struggling to keep up numbers. Some like Key West have died altogether. Interestingly, some of the more successful
events in recent years have been led and run by the big production builders who have appealed to their customers with regattas that strike a balance between decent compe- tition afloat and fun ashore. Here one of the biggest players is Nautor’s Swan. The long-established Rolex Swan Cup
in Sardinia has been their most famous and prestigious event, with the Swan Euro- peans proving popular too. But in recent
years the Swan approach has changed to a more sophisticated regatta model with the introduction of The Nations League and The Nations Trophy. Added to this, their product range has expanded rapidly in all directions from the most recent launch, the radical ClubSwan 36, to the giant Club- Swan 125 in the racing scene, plus a raft of new developments for the cruising world. At their press conference at Dusseldorf
Boat Show in January it wasn’t hard to read between the lines to see that Nautor’s Swan’s sales success over the past 18 months has accelerated existing plans to increase production by the end of 2020. Little surprise then that the volume of
recent activity from Swan has been as hectic as it has been confusing when it comes to understanding where they are trying to get to. Yet behind the scenes the organisation is confident that it is leading the charge for some big changes in yacht racing. ‘Forgive me if it sounds a little immod-
est, but we believe that we are writing a new page within what we are doing in one-design in the history of sailing,’ says company president Leonardo Ferragamo. A bold statement and one that could
easily be misunderstood as referring solely to the radically styled and long-awaited ClubSwan 36 with its single, enormous curved foil. But when you drill down into the detail of what is really going on with
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
