Success For Swans At Les Voiles 2007

The ninth edition of the celebrated Les Voiles de St Tropez regatta has come to a close having welcomed a mixture of classic and modern yachts from all corners the world. Over 300 boats took part in the regatta, including 23 Swans, ranging from 39ft up to 80ft. The most successful performance by a Swan was, without doubt, the Club Swan 42 of Leonardo Ferragamo, Cuordileone, which won the 23 strong Class B in the modern division on its Mediterranean debut. In that class, Swans took four of the top ten places, showing the versatility of these beautiful boats.

“We have had some excellent races here this year,” enthused Leonardo Ferragamo. “There are so many different types of boats here – it’s a great parade for sailing yachts and I feel privileged to be part of it. I took delivery of Cuordileone less than a week ago, which proves what a fantastic boat she is – very easy to sail and fantastic acceleration. She planes very easily and that coupled with her acceleration is what makes the different when you are competing.” As Nautor’s Swan embark on moving the new Club Swan 42 class forward into 2008 with a comprehensive calendar of events, the success of the model speaks for itself after Cuordileone’s flawless performance last week. From its birth place in the United States to the outer reaches of the Asia-Pacific, notoriety of this competitive class is building, with circuits announced in America, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

The Club Swan 42 wasn’t Nautor’s only one-design model putting in a strong performance; Swan 45 Early Bird was hot on the heels of Cuordileone from the outset, filing two second place results and one third which earned the crew a third place finish overall. Fellow Swan 45s, Murka 2, Axelle S and Fatboy also impressed in Class B, with all three of them being placed in the top 12. The Swan 42, Phaco, took second place in Class E of the modern division which had a total of 23 entries; Phaco was closely followed by Swan 411 If which took 6th in the same class. Kwinte II was the only yacht flying the Swan flag in the traditional division and the Swan 43 did well to take 8th place in the face of some very stiff competition.

Elsewhere in the modern category results, the larger swans competing in Class A shared the St Tropez waters with some fast opposition. Despite this intimidating line up of modern racing yachts, the Swans displayed they can compete with the best of them.

Swan 601 CuordIleone finished as the highest placed Swan in the class after coming in second in race two, helping her to a fourth place finish overall and just ten points shy of the winner. @ Robas the second Swan 601 was competing in the regatta for the first time and finished in seventh place, just behind Swan 80 Favonius, which returned to Les Voiles having won it in 2005. Owner Roel Pieper and his crew sailed consistently well throughout the week with fourth place finish in race two bumping them up the leader board. Completing the fleet of Swan 601’s Spirit of Jethou finished in 11th position on 23 points and the fourth and final Swan competing in this Class was Manu, a Swan 70 which finished in 14th position.

The prize-giving ceremony on Sunday evening took place in the most magnificent setting, under the walls of the ancient Citadelle, with a view overlooking the bay of Saint-Tropez where the hard fought competition took place. André Beaufils, President of Les Voile Organising Committee welcomed the competitors, along with the Jean-Michel Couve, Deputy Mayor of Saint-Tropez, to present the awards for the week’s racing.

RESULTS

Espirit de Tradition
8. KWINTE II (Swan 43) Andre & Anne Mar Annicq, 21 Points (7,DNF,6,8)

Modernes

Class A
4. CUODILEONE (Swan 601) Leonardo Ferragamo, 14 Points (4,2,11,8)
6. FAVONIUS (Swan 80) Roland Pieper, 20 Points (9,4,7,9)
7. @ ROBAS (Swan 601) Gerard Logel, 20 Points (5,6,9,10)
11. SPIRIT OF JETHOU II (Swan 601) Peter Ogden, 23 Points (8,9,8,7)
14. MANU (Swan 70) 41 Points (13,15,15,13)

Class B
1. CUORDILEONE (Club Swan 42) Leonardo Ferragamo, 5 Points (1,1,8,3)
3. EARLY BIRD (Swan 45) Christain Nagel, 7 Points (2,6,3,2)
4. MURKA (Swan 45) Miknail Mouratov, 10 Points (3,2,5,7)
6. AXELLE S (Swan 45) Hubert Wargny, 16 Points (12,3,9,4)
11. FATBOY (Swan 45) Zonneveld, 28 Points (9,9,10,13)
12. ISKAREEN (Swan 391) Arnt Bruhns, 30 Points (10,DSQ,12,8)
19. GERONIMO (Swan 651) Erik Veldvhuisen, 55 Points (20,18,18,19)

Class C
18. NORTHERN CHILD (Swan 51) Julian Sincock, 48 Points (18,15,15,24)
20. TWILIGHT (Swan 46) Michel Huygues, 53 Points (22,17,19,17)
22. BALLYTRIM (Swan 46) Ford Geoff, 61 Points (24,22,18,21)
27. VENATOR (Swan 65) Luigi Prins, 78 Points (27,28,25,26)
40. MANUTEA OF COWES (Swan 44)

Class D
17. MONOMATAPA (Swan 46) Jeroen Hin, 41 Points (DSQ,20,13,8)

Class E
2. PHACO (Swan 42) Carpentier/Chauchat, 9 Points (6,3,5,1)
6. IF (Swan 411) Ronan Jehanno, 16 Points (DNQ,7,6,3)
21. BRENDAN (Swan 39) Francois Bel, 61 Points (16,DNF,DNF,19)

Source: Nautor’s Swan