Swan 45 North European Circuit won by Van Uden

Van Uden wins Swan 45 North European Circuit 2012 © Nautor's Swa

The Gaastra Breskens Sailing Weekend which took place between 31st August and 2nd September has been won by Swan 45, VanUden. The Breskens Sailing Weekend formed the final event in the Swan 45 North European Circuit and took place on the river Westerschelde in Breskens, Netherlands. Organised by the Breskens Sailing Committee and sponsored by Gaastra, the races were highly anticipated by competitors and spectators alike.

Saturday and Sunday brought great weather for sailing, with a wind speed of 10-16 knots and a bright sunny sky, however the great weather did not mean easy sailing. Due to the currents and the wind shifts, the final event of the Swan 45 North European Circuit was certainly challenging. On Friday, the first day of the event, racing had to be cancelled due to strong winds of above 30 knots; this meant that the planned longer distance windward leeward course was not possible. This race was discounted as part of the Swan 45 results.

Results from Breskens Weekend saw Swan 45, VanUden take first place with Swan 45, Samantaga in second and Swan 45, Motions in third. Swan 45, Hawkeye took fourth place, closely followed by Swan 45, Checkmate in fifth and Swan 45, Blue label in sixth. The remaining three Swans, Swan 45, Tarok 7, Swan 45, Katima and Swan 45, Eclectic took the joint final position with 10 points each.

The overall results for the Swan 45 North European Circuit saw VanUden finishing in first place with 4 points. Checkmate came in second place with 8 points and Motions took third place with 11 points. Samantaga finished the circuit with 13 points, Hawkeye with 18 points and Blue Label with 23 points. Tarok 7 came in seventh with 24 points, Katima in eighth with 25 points and Eclectic in seventh with 26 points.

The Swan 45 Northern European trophy was awarded to the delighted VanUden crew. VanUden’s, Harm Tiddens commented;

“In short, it was a fantastic finish to a great year. We finally managed to outright beat the always strong Samantaga in an event and at the same time we won the overall Swan 45 Northern European circuit. We couldn’t be happier.

The sailing was great; good weather, great one design racing and some serious competition. To come out on top was very pleasing and only possible because the whole team was performing so well. The last race was epic. We were leading when Checkmate forced its way through at the last bottom mark, also allowing Samantaga through; we had to win! We put our teeth in it and managed to pass them both again in the last beat, to win on equal points but more first places.

We’re only in our 2nd season and next season will be even tougher with some big names joining the Circuit with the Swan 45 World Championship in Cowes next July, but we’re really looking forward to it!”

For more information and the full results please visit, www.swan45class.com