A Stellar Season for the Club Swan 42

The Club Swan 42 Class had a stellar season this year, with a full calendar of racing and social events, excitement on shore and great results – the highlight was the much awaited Rolex Swan Cup, with a fleet of twelve Club Swan 42s racing as a one-design Class, including three owners from the United States.

The success of Swan 42 Tixwave as overall winner of the 62nd Giraglia Rolex Cup set the tone at the beginning of the season. Tixwave's owner Bernard Vananty from Switzerland had many reasons to celebrate: "It was quite special to sail the Giraglia Rolex Cup this year because it was exactly 40 years ago I sailed my first one when I was 18 or 19 years old. It was very windy, we had a prototype boat, and we could not finish that race. Last year we came back to race again; we were second overall and this year we won!" The Giraglia Rolex Cup saw another brilliant victory for the Club Swan 42, with Mandolino owned by Italian offshore racing purist Martino Orombelli claiming the ORC overall title.

As the only female skipper of the Swan 42 fleet, Romanian Natalia Brailoiu, showed that the Club Swan 42 is indeed a perfect co-ed boat. With the confidence of a victory in the ORC A Class at the Giraglia Rolex Cup in the inshore races, Club Swan 42 Natalia went on to claim the first ORC European Championship in Valencia, Spain – also proving that this Club Swan 42 was indeed the 'hot' boat on the European racing circuit.

The Club Swan 42 Class is a true testament to the spirit of Swan, where passion for sailing and being part of a community with shared values meet high-performance racing. Designed by German Frers, the Club Swan 42 is a Corinthian multipurpose yacht that is very competitive as a one-design racer and also under IRC, both inshore and offshore. While up to two professionals (one of whom must be the full-time boat captain) can race on a boat, they can't steer and can't be compensated for sailing on the boat except for the boat captain.

The Club Swan 42 was developed together with the New York Yacht Club in 2006, the ninth one-design class created by the club since 1900. Its introduction was unparalleled: 35 boats sold within the first six months. Today, forty-four boats comprise the Club Swan 42 fleet worldwide. Boats have been sold in seventeen countries.

The Club Swan 42 family includes members from Europe, Asia and the United States. This year – lured by the rich calendar of events in the Mediterranean and the prospect of competing in the spectacular setting of Porto Cervo at the Rolex Swan Cup – three owners from the United States decided to 'cross the pond' and join their European friends.

At the completion of the Swan 42 U.S. Nationals, in Newport, RI, four of the Swan 42s scrambled to ready their boats for shipment to the Mediterranean. Aboard Sevenstar's Egelantiersgracht, Cuordileone owned by Leonardo Ferragamo, headed back to her home country of Italy. Joining her were Ken Colburn's Apparition, Phil Lotz's Arethusa, and Charles Kenahan's Mahalo. It would be the first time for all of these US owners at the Rolex Swan Cup and the first time they would sail in the waters of the Mediterranean.

These owners brought a great deal of talent with them. Lotz and Colburn are both two-time U.S. Nationals champions and Lotz skippered the NYYC entry to a first place finish in the 2009 Invitational Cup. Kenahan, one of the newest members of the Class, had won the NYYC's 159th Annual Regatta.

Lotz has competed in team races in England with various one-design boats, but not the Swan 42. "The Rolex Swan Cup is supposed to be one of the best regattas in the world at one of the best venues, so expectations are high – good sailing, great venue and good food! I am looking forward to meeting owners from Europe and the experience of sailing in Sardinia," commented Lotz.

As for Kenahan's goals, "As always, I will aim to be on the podium. I will enjoy meeting the European owners and hope to convince more of them to come to the US and sail one-design." At the end of the long race at the Rolex Swan Cup, Kenahan, who came in sixth, was all smiles: "This was the greatest day of sailing in my life. We clocked a couple of times at 17.2!"

Colburn said he and his wife Ginny, who sails with him on Apparition, were looking forward to competing at the Rolex Swan Cup and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, as racing in the Med was a 'bucket list' item for them.

The Colburns and Apparition have sailed in the last two NYYC Invitational Cups (2011 and 2013) and thoroughly enjoyed the international competition at those events. "I am hoping that the Rolex Swan Cup fosters the same Corinthian spirit and friendly yet intense competition that we saw at the Invitational Cup. Racing one-design tests a team's sailing skills and eliminates hardware advantages. This is what the Club Swan 42 Class has fostered and we are looking forward to at the Rolex Swan Cup."

Indeed the Club Swan 42 One Design class, with 12 entries, saw some fierce competition at the Rolex Swan Cup, where Natalia dominated winning her second title in a row at this event. The only female skipper in the fleet, Natalia Brailoiu steered her crew to a straightforward victory, the second in a row at this biannual regatta. "I've been sailing with this crew for a long time, about four years, and this is the key to our success," said Brailoiu. "I have complete faith in my crew and they help me a lot. I am very proud to be able to compete at this level as a woman."

Following the Rolex Swan Cup, some of the fleet headed to the mainland to compete at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, where Natalia finished 5th in IRCC – outstanding given the competition from the TP52s among other big boats – and Apparition won the Club Swan 42 One Design Class.

The French week of sailing included the BMW Sail & Drive Challenge. Cuordileone and Long Echo from Europe challenged and won over American contenders Apparition and Mahalo. After racing, several owners and crewmembers set out for the La Mole airport where BMW had organized test-drives for the competitors. The new electric BMW i3 was used in an agility course and the BMW M6 Series was used for a slalom course through cones and then a straightaway at top speed down the airport tarmac.

With the Mediterranean season heading to a close, Ken Colburn shared his feelings about his first experience there: "The combination of the two regattas, the Rolex Swan Cup and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, were a remarkable introduction to racing in the Med for us. The spectacular beauty of Sardinia, the hospitality of Nautor's Swan, and the tight competitive racing one-design in the Rolex Swan Cup put it on a par with the best regattas we have raced in. The yachting spectacle of Les Voiles and the camaraderie between the Swan Class 42 owners who were present made for a unique and fun event. Our 'regatta within a regatta' kept the Swan 42s racing one-design challenged even though we were in a large division with a broad range of race boats. These are definitely two events that we will always remember with fond memories."

As we say farewell to the teams heading back to the US and those staying in Europe, we wish well to those who have upcoming events and look forward to welcoming the boats from Europe who will sail in the US next season.

swan42.org