Swan American Race Week Overall

WENDEN IS OVERALL WINNER AT SWAN AMERICAN RACE WEEK

NEWPORT, RI, AUGUST 21, 1999--Herbert Schwartz skippered his Swan 44 MK II Wenden to first in Division G in the final race of Swan American Race Week here today. The Riverside, CT skipper clinched an overall division victory and won the Asprey and Garrard Perpetual Trophy for the overall event winner.

Wenden took the gun in the division for boats under 45 feet on a cold, gray afternoon in Newport Harbor as the fleet of 42 Swans completed a fast 17.5 mile circumnavigation of Conanicut Island.

The perpetual trophy went to the boat with the lowest point score for the week. Edward Asprey, a director of the 218-year-old London firm of jewellers, goldsmiths and silversmiths, was on hand to present the $14,000 sterling silver claret jug to Schwartz.

Second place overall in fleet went to Graham Smith, from Seattle, WA, sailing his Swan 48 Vellamo. Smith was leading on points after three days of racing, only to see Schwartz move into a narrow lead on Day Four after the fleet completed six races and were permitted to discard their worst-scoring race. Wenden moved up from third to first after discarding a 12th place to lead Vellamo by just two points going into the final race.

Swan owners hosted Ferrari owners who watched the final day of racing from vintage motoryachts. Before the start, Ferraris lined the pier at the Newport Harbor Hotel and Marina as the fleet took part in parade of sail watched by special guests inincluding Swan yacht designers Olin Stephens, Jr., and German Frers, and Whitbread Race winner and America's Cup challenger Paul Cayard. They were joined by Leonardo Ferragamo, Chairman of Nautor International and Gian Buitoni, president and CEO of Ferrari North America.

Racing started under leaden skies as the two divisions tacked north on Narragansett Bay with the Swan 56s Neva, Redoutable and Mensae leading the fleet under the Newport Bridge. Powered by a 15 to 18-knot northeaster, the boats fetched the north end of the island in rapid time. Pushed by an ebbing tide they made a fast spinnaker run down the back side of the island, with a stretched-out necklace of brightly-hued spinnakers providing the only relief against the rain-laden clouds and cool gray sea. Off Beavertail Point at the south end of the Island, the fleet tacked through rolling seas as it headed back to the finish off Newport's Goat Island.

Schwartz described his crew as "family and friends". A 30-year sailing veteran skippering his sixth boat named Wenden, Schwartz raced the week with his wife Nan, son-in-law Paul Crain, daughter Laura and son Peter. Three or four other crew were with the boat for the week, while others came and went as the week wore on.

"He's a great guy," said 18-year-old college student Kris Matthews, from Portsmouth, RI, who was drafted to run the foredeck by his father Dean Matthews, a former time crew member for Schwartz. "I knew we were going to do well the first time went went out. Herb was calm. There was no yelling. He just knew what he wanted.

Vellamo's Smith said his his crew was a group of Seattle friends who loved to race. The current program with Vellamo began in Sardinia over a year ago months ago and led to a victory in the Racer/Cruiser Division at Antigua Race Week last winter.

"Ever since Sardinia we've been getting the boat up to speed," Smith said. "We've been getting better as we go along -- with our boat and sail preparations and with the quality of our crew work. I'm sure that it helped that we were here a week before the regattta practising every day for six or seven days."

Sponsors for Swan American Race Week included Asprey and Garrard, Brewers Yacht Yards, Ferrari, Ocean World, Sebago, and Trident Funding. For more about Race Week, check the web site at www.swanraceweek.com

Swan American Race Week 1999 - Final Results, Day 5, August 21, 1999

F Division (Boats over 45-feet):

 1. Vellamo, W. Graham Smith, Swan 48, Seattle, WA 
    (2-1-4-[8]-3-1-3), 14;
 2. Odyssey, David Brodsky, Swan 55, Newport, RI 
    (1-3-[15]-2-10-5-2), 23;
 3. Nefertiti, Bob Schwager, Swan 46, New York, NY 
    (4-4-8-1-[9]-6-1), 24;
 4. Neva, Robert C. Watson, Swan 56, New York, NY 
    (6.5-7-2-[12]-2-2-12), 31.5;
 5. Mensae, Erling Kristiansen, Swan 56, Huntington, NY
    (3-[22]-5-11-4-4-10), 37

G Division (boats under 45 feet):

 1. Wenden, Herbert Schwartz, Swan 44 Mk II, Riverside, CT 
    (3-2-1-[12]-1-2-1) 10;
 2. Crescendo, Martin D. Jacobson, Swan 44 Mk II, Jamestown, RI 
    (4-1-3-4-2-1-[5]), 15;
 3. Carpe Diem, Michael Fracchia, Swan 391, Miller Place, NY 
    (1-4.5-5-2-3-3-[6]), 18.5
 4. The Ugly Duckling, Frederic Joyce, Swan S&S 44, Utica, NY 
    (6-3-[9]-1-6-9-3) 28;
 5. Alibi, Bill Breck, Greenwich, CT 
    (2-6-[10]-9-5-8-2)