Vitesse takes Club Swan 42 victory at Acura Key West 2009

Following a hotly contested week of racing off the Florida Keys, Jon Halbert’s Vitesse (Dallas, Texas) has taken victory in the Club Swan 42 Class at Acura Key West Race Week 2009. With six Club Swan 42s competing, and each of them achieving at least a second place race result in the series of ten, the leaderboard for the fleet was remarkably open going into the final day’s racing. Overall second and third positions in the Class were ultimately taken by Newport, Rhode Island, entries Arethusa and Celeritas.

Reflecting the open nature of the competition, Phil Lotz’s Arethusa had to settle for a commendable second position overall after a convincing performance throughout the week. The Arethusa team were forced to concede their scoreboard lead from the penultimate day as Vitesse upheld her consistency, and others in the fleet pulled out their best performances of the week in the final races. Barry Sampson’s Long Echo (UK), having achieved second place success in race seven, once against stepped up to be second across the line in the final race.

Taking third position overall, just four points behind Arethusa, was the Malcolm Gefter skippered Celeritas who enjoyed three race wins early in the week. The 2008 US National Club Swan 42 Champion, Mark Watson’s Tiburon, also put on a highly competitive display with three race wins across the week. Despite winning both races on the final day, Tiburon’s crew finished in fourth place in the overall standings with Celeritas claiming a lead of just one point for third prize.

Marking the first Club Swan 42 regatta of 2009, and reinforcing the competitive nature of this Corinthian Class, Key West Race Week heightens the anticipation for the upcoming events in the US Club Swan 42 calendar as well as the Mediterranean and Northern European Circuits for the Class.