Earlybird to defend their title

Rolex Swan 45 Worlds to take place this week in Argentario, Italy

Final preparations are underway for the 2009 Rolex Swan 45 Worlds, organised by the Yacht Club Italiano together with the Circolo Nautico e della Vela Argentario and the Swan 45 Class. More than 300 competitors are anticipated, as the 18 teams from eight nations gather in Argentario for the fifth edition of the World Championships for this prestigious one design class.

Current World Champions, Earlybird (GER) are ready to defend their title, having just competed in the Copa del Rey in Palma a few short weeks ago. Commenting on the team’s preparations, Christian Nagel (co-owner of Earlybird) said: “It’s been a good year for us so far and we feel well prepared for the Worlds. We have virtually the same team as we did throughout 2008, including tactician Sten Mohr (DEN). Our crew work continues to improve and I am confident that this is integral to our results to date. We are looking forward to the start on Monday.”

Two of the teams to watch will be RW Bol’s Swan 45 No Limits (NED) and Vittorio Ruggiero’s Swan 45 TalJ (ITA), who are tied for first place in the Swan 45 Class Circuit after a full season of racing. Also hailing from The Netherlands is Nico Poon’s Charisma with Ray Davies (Team New Zealand) as tactician on board while fellow America’s Cup veteran Tommaso Chieffi (Team Shosholoza) will be calling tactics on Stefano Piccolo’s Swanted the local favourite.

The Rolex Swan 45 Worlds takes place annually and this is the first time the event has been open to charterers. Likewise, the wild cards are Joao Ferrer’s team on DSK-Capim Canela direct from Brazil having won the J24 Worlds in Annapolis earlier this year and Tony Buckingham’s (GBR) team onboard WISC.

In keeping with the ethos of the Class and the spirit of ClubSwan, the owners and teams will enjoy a full social programme shoreside including the VIP Owners Dinner at Il Pelicano and the Rolex Crew Party at the stunning Argentario Golf Resort.

As the heat wave continues in Italy, the outlook is for continued high pressure and moderate winds on the race course. Racing starts on Monday, 31 August.

Entries

Boat		Name	Nat
ATLANTICA RACING	Carlo	PERRONE	Italy
BLUE NIGHTS	Tea	EKENGREN-SAUREN	Finland
CAPIM - CANELA/DSK	Joao	FERRER	Brazil
CHARISMA	Nico	POONS	Holland
CHECKMATE	Peter	de RIDDER	Holland
EARLYBIRD	Christian NAGEL /	Hendrik BRANDIS	Germany
FEVER	Grant GORDON/	Klaus DIEDERICHS	Great Britain
ISKAREEN	Soenke	BRUHNS	Germany
JEROBOAM-MITSUBISHI	Vittorio	CODECASA	Italy
MANDOLINO	Diego VISCONTI/	Martino OROMBELLI	Italy
NO LIMITS	Rw	BOL	Holland
RATS ON FIRE	Rafel	CARBONELL PUJOL	Spain
SWANTED	Stefano	PICCOLO	Italy
TALJ	Vittorio	RUGGIERO	Italy
ULIKA	Andrea	MASI	Italy
WISC	Tony	BUCKINGHAM	GBR
YASHA	Yukihiro	ISHIDA	Japan