2022 Swan One Design World Championship at Real Club Nautico de Valencia – Day 2
by Nautor's Swan 7 Jul 2022 23:06 BST
5-9 July 2022
- Local breeze Garbi brings a different challenge for the fleet
- Swiss yacht ONEGroup is star performer of the day
- All to play for with two days remaining
The second day of the Swan One Design Worlds, hosted by the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, saw several more ClubSwan Racing teams earn their place in the winner's circle of their respective classes as the intensity of the competition increased another notch.
With the regatta - which is the World Championships for the ClubSwan 36, ClubSwan 42 and ClubSwan 50 one-design classes - reaching its half-way point, fortunes among the fleet ebbed and flowed across another three closely-contested races off Valencia, Spain's historic port city.
Compared with Wednesday the wind was lighter, but the light easterly breeze - locally named the Garbi - gradually increased to deliver 12-13 knots by the third and final race.
ClubSwan 50: ONEGroup is star of the day
It proved another exhilarating day in the always competitive ClubSwan 50 class. Cuordileone, helmed by Leonardo Ferragamo, remained at the top of the leaderboard - again by a single point - but this time fending off Hendrik Brandis' ultra-consistent Earlybird.
Though without a win on the board, Earlybird displaced the defending class World Champion Hatari from second place on the table, opening up a four-point lead.
The star performance of the day however belonged to Stefan Heidenreich's ONEGroup, the World Champion back in 2018, with the Swiss yacht posting her first race win in results of 2-1-3 to move into fourth spot ahead of Balthasar.
ONEGroup tactician Jochen Schümann said: "It was brilliant today, another good day. Yesterday we had a few problems and we made mistakes, but today we managed to be in the top three in all the races, so we are very pleased."
ClubSwan 42: Nadir edges out her lead
Consolidation was the name of the game today for the leader of the ClubSwan 42 class, as Pedro Vaquer's Nadir extended her lead to seven points after taking a win in the first race - her third of the regatta - as well as banking a fourth and second place.
At the same time both Christian Plump's Elena Nova and Pit Finis' Dralion both had their moment in the spotlight with well-deserved race wins.
However, it was Massimo De Campo's ever reliable Selene-Alifax that delivered a 2-3-4 scoreline for the day to secure a solid second spot overall, also seven points clear of her nearest rival Dralion in third.
De Campo, Selene-Alifax's helm, reflected on the day: "The wind was not as strong today but that presented its own challenges. In the last race today there were three boats within one or two metres of each other on the finish line. But this is racing, and nothing is free, no result is free."
And asked if they could close the gap to Nadir he said: "She is very fast and very consistent this year, so they will not be easy to get back to, but right up to the last race anything can happen."
And he added: "As for Valencia, we have sun and wind and great organisation, we can ask for nothing more."
ClubSwan 36: Three more winners in competitive class
It was a day of nip and tuck racing in the superfast ClubSwan 36 fleet, with three more yachts taking their first wins at the regatta - namely Edoardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone, Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's G Spot and Lorenzo Mondo's Farstar.
So while Brazil's Mamao remained on top while also preserving her two-point cushion, it was all change below with Black Seal dropping from second to fifth, and the day's three race winners moving above her with G Spot - the current circuit leader and World Champion - claiming the runner-up spot ahead of Cuordileone and Farstar.
G Spot's tactician Michele Paoletti said: "Today has been really hard, especially the first race. We did a good first part but then we made a big mistake with one of the wind shifts and went from second to sixth. But the other two races were pretty good for us with a first and a second.
"We are trying to get better and better and to catch the boat at the top of the ranking. We are in second place at the midway point of the regatta, so no one can say which way it will go. We have just got to concentrate and make as few mistakes as we can."
Hosted at the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, the celebratory Daily Prize-Giving was supported by Quantum Sails, one of ClubSwan Racing's valued Official Marine Suppliers. Also at the prize-giving instrumentation specialists B&G presented a special award to the best performing boats which were fully equipped by B&G - the awards going to Earlybird and Nadir.
Race tracker available here.
Full race results available here.