Argentario Sailing Week and Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge - Day 3
by Tessa Wiechmann 18 Jun 2018 10:52 BST
13-17 June 2018
Day 3 - Argentario Sailing Week and Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge © Pierpaolo Lanfrancotti / Fabio Taccola / YCSS
Picture-perfect weather conditions at Argentario Sailing Week where on Saturday the 40 yacht fleet raced with a light 12-15 knot northwesterly breeze and flat seas.
Back on the docks, oysters and prosecco awaited the tired but happy sailors at the end of the day. Final race day on Sunday 17 June with the chance to discard the worst result.
Day three stories – Focus on Spirit of Tradition debutantes
"A Gem of a Discovery" - After racing, Laurent Schenk, owner of Scherzo (1982 – Sparkman and Stephens – Swan) stated "Argentario Sailing Week is a gem of a discovery! A wonderful and extremely friendly welcome on land together with a spectacular racecourse that is quite technical and is set in a breathtaking scenery. I guess I could sum it up as Wind and Welcome in Porto Santo Stefano. Next year I hope to see more S&S Swan Classics at Argentario Sailing Week and I think a closer collaboration with the Classic Swan Rendez-vous would be fantastic."
Scherzo, racing in Argentario for the first time in the Spirit of Tradition division, was built according to a 1974 design and is a Sparkman and Stephens Swan 47 racer- cruiser. Her first owner was German and her second Dutch but in 2011 she was sold to a Swiss owner. In 2012, Scherzo had her deck replaced the Caffarena yard at Calvari in Liguria and that same year, she took part in the Corsica Classic and in the classic Swan regattas organized every two years by the S&S Swan Association.
"Argentario Sailing Week is a not-to-be-missed leg of the PCYC" - "World class sailing and hospitality, not to mention the ice cream!" stated Biern Hedlund, the owner and helmsman of Hanni II (2013 - André Hoek). "We hadn't participated in this regatta before because I bought Hanni II only two years ago. We are a group of friends from Southern Sweden and have sailed all our lives. Johan even raced in the Admiral's Cup in 1985 on Indispensable Too! About five years ago, we started sailing together and decided to form a team under the Torekov Boat and Sailing Club. We then decided to come to Porto Santo Stefano because other crews told us that Argentario Sailing Week is a not-to-be-missed leg of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Circuit." Crewmember Haken Wersall sails for the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS) and is the owner of Tintagel, also designed by Hoek. "I am definitely going to be participating in Argentario Sailing Week 2019 with my own yacht and I hope more classic yacht owners in Sweden will follow are lead".
All participating Grandes Dames, their designers and stories are described in great detail on the event's Facebook page.
Provisional Leaderboard after three races
Spirit of Tradition:
1) Tabasco V (Lion Karl)
2) Fairlie (Thomas Fisher)
3) Hanni II (Biern Hedlund)
Classic A:
1) Il Moro di Venezia (Massimiliano Ferruzzi)
2) St. Christopher (Daria Cabai)
3) Outlaw (Mike Horsley)
Classic B:
1) Sagittarius (Thierry Laffitte)
2) Ojalà (Susan Carol Holland)
3) Voscià (Giancarlo Lodigiani)
Vintage Aurici:
1) Linnet (Patrizio Bertelli)
2) Spartan (NGH Restoration)
3) Chinook (Paolo Zannoni)
Vintage A:
1) Santana (Schmidt Wendy)
2) Skylark of 1937 (Tara Getty)
3) Comet (Fisher Woodward)
Vintage B:
1) Cippino II (Daniel Seilecki)
2) Fjord III (Scott Perry
3) Cholita (Marialinda Nettis)
Big Boats:
1) Hallowe'en (M. Cotter)
2) Moonbeam of Fife (Moonbeam of Fife SRL)
www.argentariosailingweek.it