Med opener for Cuordileone

Club Swan 42 action at SNIM

This Easter weekend saw a highly competitive start to the 2009 Club Swan 42 Mediterranean Circuit at Semaine Nautique Internationale de Méditerranée (SNIM), organised by Société Nautique de Marseille. With the final day of racing reluctantly abandoned due to the extremely light wind conditions in Marseille on Easter Monday, Leonardo Ferragamo’s Cuordileone took the overall prize for 1st place in the Club Swan 42 Class after registering a total of three wins in five races over the previous race days. Cuordileone’s performance also left the Italian crew to take 2nd place overall in challenging IRC Class A.

The 2008 Club Swan 42 European Champion, Kora 4 with Enrico Scerni at the helm, settled for a tight 2nd place in the regatta with local Yacht Club representative Ludovic de Saint Jean taking the prize for 3rd place in Class with Kuujjauq. SNIM also established the introduction of another French Club Swan 42 competitor in Jean Luc Boixel’s Genapi.

After day three of SNIM, which for the Club Swan 42 fleet consisted of a 16 mile coastal race in variable winds, it became clear that that this year’s Med Circuit is set to be a tightly contested series. Kuujjuaq, with Sébastien Col onboard, celebrated their first race win of the regatta in the coastal race becoming the third of the four Club Swan 42s to register a first place result over the weekend. After a good start and tactful rounding of a small island at the windward side of the course in very light conditions, the locally experienced tactician on Kuujjuaq took the risky decision to head to the west, away from the other Swan 42s, where there was seemingly no wind. With the benefit of predicting an unlikely change in conditions, Ludovic de Saint John took advantage of their ideal positioning to steer Kuujjauq to victory in his home port.

Saturday’s racing, over two windward-leeward courses, contrastingly saw tight competition for first place between the two Italian entries, Kora 4 and Cuordileone. Each of these yachts registered a win with Leonardo Ferragamo’s Cuordileone gaining first place overall in IRC Class A for the fourth race. Easter Saturday also proved to be a tactical day for Circuit newcomer Genapi who manage to defeat the more experienced Kuujjuaq for third place in both races.

In the celebratory style of SNIM, the Société Nautique de Marseille and local Club Swan 42 owner Ludovic de Saint Jean hosted a cocktail reception on the Saturday evening in the picturesque floating Yacht Club at the heart of town. The competing Club Swan 42 owners and crew, along with key representatives of the SNIM organising committee and SNIM President Bernard Amiel, gathered in the venue overlooking the marina with the Club Swan 42s and their Class flags flying at the focus of the view.

Preparations continue for the next of the Club Swan 42 Med Circuit events which will be Rolex Capri Sailing Week from 19th to 23rd May. We also look forward to the start of the first Club Swan 42 Northern European Circuit which will get underway at the North Sea Regatta, in Scheveningen (NL) on the last weekend of May.

Club Swan 42 Mediterranean Circuit:
SNIM, Marseille, France 10 April – 13 April
Rolex Capri Sailing Week, Capri, Italy 19 May – 23 May
Giraglia Rolex Cup, St Tropez, France 13 June – 20 June
Copa del Ray, Palma de Mallorca, Spain 1 August – 8 August
Les Voiles de Saint Tropez, France 27 September – 4 October

Club Swan 42 Northern European Circuit:
North Sea Regatta, Scheveningen, Netherlands 28 May – 1 June
Swan European Regatta, Cowes, UK 11 July – 17 July
Cowes Week, Isle of Wight, UK 1 – 8 August
Baltic Sea Challenge, Flensburg, Germany September

Club Swan 42 US Circuit:
American YC Spring Series, Rye, USA April 25-26 May 2-3 STC Block Island Race, Stanford, USA May 22 NYYC 155th Annual Regatta, Newport, USA June 12-14
Block Island Race Week, Block Island, USA June 21-26
Marblehead to Halifax, Marblehead, USA July 5
Sail Newport, Newport, USA July 10-12
Swan Nationals, Newport, USA July 16-19
NYYC Annual Cruise, New England, USA July 31-August 7
Ida Lewis Distance Race, Newport, USA August 14
Stamford Vineyard Race, Stamford, USA September 4-6
NYYC Invitational Cup, Newport, USA September 15-19
American YC Fall Series, Rye, USA September 19-20 / September 26-27
STC IRC East Coast Championship, Annapolis, USA October 30-November 1