Event
atmosphere of what is now a very special event in the international sailing calendar. ‘I am incredibly proud to represent
my country, Egypt, on board such a fun and fast boat,’ says Ghada G Barsoum, who chartered the ClubSwan 36 Lady Ghada for the season. ‘This drives me to push my limits and take on new challenges with a fantastic crew. ‘A few months ago I could never
have imagined myself steering such a fast and high-performance boat,’ she added. ‘And now, thanks to ClubSwan Racing, I can enjoy the excitement of surfing and skimming over the waves.’ Equally, the social programme is
geared to provide the Nautor Swan community, the ClubSwanmembers, with a chance to share their collective enthusiasms. ‘The Rolex Swan Cup is an iconic and historic event which unites first-class yachts, passionate owners and sailors, and three long- standing partners, YCCS, Rolex and Nautor Swan,’ says Giovanni Pomati, CEO of Nautor Swan. ‘The regatta is aboutmore than
competition,’ he explains. ‘It is also about a sense of belonging, of pride and of showcasing that heritage can sit comfortably alongside evolution, innovation, quality, elegance and reliability.’ A few imaginative changes were
introduced this year to enhance the experience without losing the emphasis on friendly and fair racing. First, the fleet was divided into two groups with one hosting three
72 SEAHORSE
divisions of the rating classes: Maxi, Swan and Sparkman & Stephens, each of which is further divided into classes. As well as dividing the fleet by size, organisers also took the opportunity to separate the full-on racing machines with professional crews from the predominantly Corinthian entries, while noting that some of the latter are still formidable competitors. Group 2 featured the more racing-
focused Swan One Design models, including the ClubSwan 50, ClubSwan 36 and ClubSwan 28. In addition, the Swan One Design Grand Prix class has been created to cater for the Swan 45 and ClubSwan 42. This year the Swan 60CR Sea
Quill stamped her authority in the Mini Maxi Class, taking four straight race wins, while the Swan 90 Freya won the Maxi class with four bullets. ‘I'm as happy as I have ever been in my life,’ says owner Donald Macpherson. ‘It has been a fantastic week. We have a great team and we've been able to keep the same guys around most of the time. It was a team effort. The Rolex Swan Cup here in Porto Cervo is a premier event in a premier location for sailing. Everybody here has the same thing in common.’ By contrast, the S&S Classic fleet
saw a different winner emerge every day, with Frank Winter's German- flagged Swan 36 Isabella eventually taking overall victory by a single point in a very closely contested series. The S&S Racing division
Top: there were large, competitive fleets in the rating classes Above: close inshore work adds to the navigational challenge
also enjoyed tight competition, but Vincenzo Onorato's Swan 38 Mascalazone Latino XXXIII (built in 1974) rose to the fore with three race wins to finish on top. The large Swan Cruiser class
had a similar outcome with Jan Opländer’s German Swan 54 Katima discarding a second place to finish the regatta counting only race wins. Three bullets similarly put Argentina's Fernando Chain and his modified Swan 45 From Now On at the top of the Swan Grand Prix table. Competition in the ClubSwan 50
one design class is consistently tight and this year only one point separated the top three boats at the end of their seven race series. A third place in the final race saw Raquel and Graeme Peterson's Moonlight take overall victory on 22 points, just ahead of Mark and Louis Bezner's Olymp and Marcus Brennecke's Hatari. Racing proved even tighter in the
new ClubSwan 28 class, where the top two boats finished the week on
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