Rolex Swan Cup at Porto Cervo, Sardinia - Day 2

Bulgia Bianca Holds Lead in Class A, Vertigo Extends Lead in Class B; Eurosia Moves Ahead in Class C/D

Patience paid off in day two of racing in the Rolex Swan Cup 2004, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. The 107-boat strong fleet of Swans saw a bit of everything today as light southwesterlies gave way to strong winds from the northwest. The Italian Swan 70 Bugia Bianca retains her overall lead in Class A, despite a night patching up a hole in the hull following a pre-start collision yesterday. In today’s race, the boat was over the start line early, returned to restart, and managed to climb back to the front of the fleet by the top mark, but corrected out to fifth place today. In the Swan 45s, Vertigo co-owner and skipper Alberto Signorini had a 2-1 finish to maintain a comfortable eight-point lead in Class B; and in the C/D Class, Italian Loris Vaccari ‘s Eurosia won the day to move one point ahead of Frenchman Alain Foulquier’s Saga.

The Race Committee started Classes A and C\D just southeast of Caprera Island. Class A sailed a 38-mile course along the coast, inside the Maddalena Islands, rounding the island of Spargi, then onto Barrettinelli before heading back south, passing Capo d’Orso and Capo Ferro on their way to the finish line at Porto Cervo. Class C/D sailed a similar but shorter course of approximately 30 miles, rounding Spargi, then heading straight for the finish.

The first beat was a test of patience for the fleet as the light southwesterly wind slowly died, and then fizzled out completely at the top mark for nearly 20 minutes. The boats’ positions compressed until the new northwesterly breeze filled in at 18 to 20 knots, making for a virtual restart. Boats such as the Swan 70’s Stay Calm and Flying Dragon, and the Swan 46 Eurosia were well positioned to take advantage of the major windshift.

On board Stay Calm, tactician Adrian Stead, who was tactician on 2000 America’s Cup challenger, GBR Challenge, kept the pressure on in Class A. Stead commented: “We were able to stretch out comfortably, but the impressive Swan 80, Favonius passed us and sailed off into the distance.” Stay Calm crossed the finish line second to Favonius and corrected to 4th place in the race.

Remarking on the level of competition, Stead continued, “Everyone on the boat showed great teamwork and sailed well, enabling us to finish a good second on the water. The other Swan 70’s in our fleet were proving to be very fast showing how competitive this class is. Lots of boats in Class A have a good chance of winning the regatta including one of our sisterships, Bugia Bianca, who looks like our biggest threat. Luckily we managed to just keep them at bay in today’s race.”

In Class C/D, Eurosia skipper Emanuel Vaccari claims luck was on his side, but as a three-time Rolex Swan Cup winner, that was hardly likely. This crew has sailed together for five years and it shows. Their crisp crew work and good boat speed prevailed around the course.

For the Swan 45’s in Class B, the light winds convinced the race committee to move the windward-leeward course to the entrance of the port of Porto Cervo. This turned out to be a good decision as the northwesterly breeze of 10-12 knots finally arrived and the fleet got off on their first race at 2 PM.

Racing continues tomorrow, Thursday, Sept 16, with a plan for all classes to sail the Islands Race. First gun will be at 1130 hours. For Rolex Swan Cup 2004 entry lists, results and photos, visit www.yccs.it and www.regattanews.com

Result after Day 2:

Class A
1. Bugia Bianca, Swan 70, Massimo Dentice, 1-1-5, 7 points
2. Aqua Equinox, Swan 56, Filip Balcaen, 12-4-1, 17
3. Chippewa, Swan 68, Clayton Deutsch, 2-6-10, 18

Class B
1. Vertigo, Swan 45, Marco Salvi\Alberto Signorini, 1-2-1, 4 points
2. Cuordileone, Swan 45, Leonardo Ferragamo, 2-8-2, 12
3. Mintaka, Swan 45, Stefano Polti, 10-1-5, 16

Class C/D
1. Eurosia, Swan 46, Loris Vaccari, 4-1, 5 points
2. Saga, Swan 441, Alan Foulquier, 3-3, 6
3. Solenia 2, Swan 48, Roberto Ferrero, 1-6, 7