their unblemished scoresheet with two bullets adding to yesterday’s one. ‘Though it seemed we were ahead of everybody, in reality we have been fighting, especially in the second race,’ said Serena di Lapigio. Perennial sparring partner, Vitamina was close on their heels in second place, but the battle for third, between Sixth Sense, Sease and Fra Martina, proved much closer. In the 42s, the top two remained unchanged after three races. The impressively consistent Natalia led, adding a bullet and a second, while her closest rival was Jerome Stubler’s Raving Swan who later commented, ‘The wind was moving 20-30 degrees and from 10 to 20kts, so you needed to trim quickly and steer to the angle in the shifts.’ A duel developed in the 45s.
Though Motions was still the clear leader with two firsts and a second, Fernando Chain’s From Now On mounted a spirited challenge with just two points separating the two. ‘It was a great day for sailing with nice winds,’ said Chain. ‘There were big wind shifts, but we have a very fast boat and are learning how to move on it. Whatever the result it was worth it just to come here.’ The big 50s loved the extra breeze, surging upwind and flying back down at around 15kts. With a first, second and fourth, Hatari topped the leaderboard again after three races. However, compatriot Hendrik Brandis’ Earlybird leapt up the rankings with a near faultless first and third, putting him in second place overall.
August Schram’s CS50, Stella
Maris also scored a well-earned bullet in the last race, propelling them into third overall and delighting the owner who said, ‘It reminded me a lot of our lakes in Austria – very little waves, many wind shifts and lots of gusts. ’
Day 3 - dying breeze limits racing An early breeze quickly died away on day three, allowing just one race for all classes. It proved a day for upsets, with leaders in every class putting in mid-order finishes. Unsurprisingly, G-Spot remained top of the CS36 class, but was nevertheless outperformed by Ferragamo’s ThirtySix, which took first, followed very closely by Italians Fra Martina and Sixth Sense. ‘We gave more importance to speed than angle,’ said Ferragamo, ‘Overall the team did a great job.’ In the 42s, serial winner Natalia could only manage fourth, allowing Raving Swan to chip her lead down to two points and Barry Sampson’s Long Echo scored a welcome first. According to Sampson, ‘Everybody
Top: the old harbour of St Tropez was a glamorous venue for the Swan OD fleets which gathered en masse for the grand finale of their racing season. Above:
there were 16 ClubSwan 50s, many of which had world class professional sailing talent onboard, in addition to 10 CS36s, seven CS42s and eight Swan 45s
started at the committee boat but we chose the pin end. It was tricky on port tack because the waves were slowing us down. We just crossed the fleet, although they very nearly got back to us.’ Furthermore, Motions only managed sixth place, allowing the Argentinean newcomer, From Now On to leapfrog into first place overall. Jan de Kraker’s K-Force stayed left and took a well-earned win to move up to third place overall. Although later he said, ‘In shifty weather it’s not all about the sailing, you need also to have some luck.’ The biggest upset came in the CS50s, where leader Hatari finished in 11th place, thereby reducing her overall lead over Earlybird to a single point. Cuordileone’s win moved her up to third overall.
Day 4 – tactical sailing rules Fluky easterly winds again affected the final day’s racing, allowing two races for the two smaller classes ut only one for larger yachts. In the CS36s G-Spot clung onto a commanding lead. Three bullets at the start of the regatta had set them up and some excellent tactical sailing allowed them to fend off a late challenge from Fra Martina. Stubler’s CS42, Raving Swan gave a masterclass in consistent performance and were level-pegging
with Natalia after the first race, but in second place overall as they hadn’t won a race that week. In the Swan 45s, last year’s World Champion Motions made it two in a row, although there was an element of match racing with From Now On. Finishing third, van Oeveren said afterwards, ‘We were two points behind after day three but sailed as well as we could.’
Finally, despite the slip-up the previous day, CS50 Hatari closed out the regatta to win a second consecutive World Championship after an almost flawless second place, seeing off stiff challenges from Earlybird and Cuordileone.
Prizegiving
After the daily prizes were jointly presented by hosts, the Société Nautique de St Tropez and the town of St Tropez, the winners were given a beautiful piece of modern art featuring the famous red and blue swirl of ClubSwan Racing. Nautor Group’s chief executive Giovanni Pomati paid tribute saying, ‘We are at the end of this fantastic season. Thank you to the city of St Tropez for hosting us and giving us the opportunity to see this incredible event, which will remain in our hearts for a long time.’
www.nautorswan.com q SEAHORSE 75
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