One point separation

In the Swan 45s after three races in the Rolex Swan Cup

Clear blue skies and a warm sun are shining over Porto Cervo on the lay-day of the 14th Rolex Swan Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. The memory of yesterday's gloomy skies, torrential rain and variable winds has been short lived for all but the crews who yesterday fought out a grueling long distance race, in some cases spending up to 12 hours at sea.

After five close races between the Swan 601s, Torbjorn Tornquist's Artemis is still leading its fleet. With the America's Cup legend Russell Coutts calling the shots, the Swedish entry has three bullets and two second places to her credit. With a discard now in play she holds a two point lead over the all-star crew on Jim Swartz's American entry Moneypenny. In a Swan 45 Class otherwise dominated by American entries, Danilo Salsi's DSK Comifin (ITA) retains the lead after five consecutive top four finishes, including a hard won victory yesterday. Filip Balcaen's Swan 56 Aqua Equinox (BEL) is leading in the Grand Prix fleet, while Stephen and Benedict James' Swan 48 Jacobite (GBR) holds a comfortable 7-point margin among the Classics - both handicap fleets having completed three races to date.

The first boat to cross the finish line of the long distance race, after seven hours of racing on a 40-mile clockwise circumnavigation of the Maddelena archipelago, which led the crews all the way up to the French island of Lavezzi, was Peter Simon's Swan 65 Monsoon Jaguar (GBR). Monsoon claimed line honours for the third successive race of the series in the Classic division and a well deserved victory on handicap, following some solid tactical decisions.

The next boat to reach the finish line, approximately half an hour later at 7.30 pm, was Roel Pieper's Swan 80 Favonius, claiming line honours in the Grand Prix division and a third on handicap. Together with the Swan 601 and the Swan 45 fleets, the Grand Prix entries sailed on a challenging 76-mile long zig-zag course, which led the crews to an initial windward mark, before a winding circuit through the Archipelago de La Maddalena and back to Porto Cervo on an outer route. Massimo Dentice's Swan 70 Bugia Bianca (ITA) came in second after Favonius and was able to claim the top spot on handicap. As the rest of the Grand Prix division came home in darkness, it soon became clear that Filip Balcaen's Belgian Swan 56 Aqua Equinox, with Volvo Ocean Race Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking on board, still topped the overall leaderboard in the Grand Prix division, having scored a third on corrected time in yesterday's long distance race. Bugia Bianca follows in second, holding a narrow one point margin over Favonius.

Olympic medalist and two-time Round the World skipper Roy Heiner, calling the tactics on board Favonius, summed up yesterday's long distance race: "We had a great start, leaving most of the fleet behind us, but there was a lack of wind fairly early on which made us lose some time. As we neared Lavezzi, the yachts behind us brought the wind up and we managed to get back on track just before the half way mark. We made up the time and really made it happen in the second half of the race, with Bugia Bianca providing the biggest threat. They were sailing fast and were close by throughout the course. It was an interesting race, great fun and I don't think offshore racing really gets any better. We are looking forward to the weekend races and will sail as fast as we can, performing as best we can and leaving the rest to the rating."

The Italian Swan 100S Fantasticaaa co-owned by Lanfranco Cirillo and Leonid Mikchalson, who yesterday was third overall in the Grand Prix division, has now dropped to eighth, having retired from the long distance race.

Torbjorn Torquist's Swan 601 Artemis (SWE) claimed another victory, the third of the series, in yesterday's technically demanding race and now lies in first among its division with a slim two point margin over James R. Swartz's Moneypenny (USA). The Swedish boat crossed the finish line less than two minutes ahead of the American entry - an amazing result after almost 80 miles of sailing and over eight hours spent at sea; an unmistakable proof that this is One-Design sailing at its best. Sailing legend Russell Coutts, tactician on Artemis this week is aided by a top-notch crew that includes a number of experienced America's Cup sailors. Coutts and company had no easy job on their hands, wrestling from start to finish with the talent-loaded crew on Moneypenny, which includes America's Cup and Round the World veterans such as Mark Rudiger, Brett Jones, Peter Craig, Dee Smith, Kimo Worthington and Mike Toppa. Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuor di Leone from Italy, with Paul Cayard leading the afterguard, is currently sitting in third on 10 points.

Commenting on yesterday's long race, James Swartz, owner of Moneypenny, had not foreseen such varied conditions: "It was pretty tough, we had some challenges getting through the light winds but it was fun. All the 601s were pretty even half way around the course and lost some time due to the varying weather conditions, there really was a little of everything. We made around forty sail changes and the crew worked incredibly hard but we have to make fewer mistakes. Artemis sailed a great race, they have a strong crew with Coutts on board. We are optimistic for the other races, the winds have picked up and we are working well as a team."

The Swan 45 fleet, as expected, is enjoying a cut-throat battle at the top. Danilo Salsi's DSK Comifin (ITA) holds on to its overall lead by a slim one point margin with an impressive series of results - 1,4,3,4,1 - which includes an authoritative win yesterday, after lying third at the halfway point. Yesterday, the one-design fleet raced in a tight pack from start to finish throughout the course. Early race leaders, Grant Gordon and Klaus Diederich's Fever (GBR) were edged out in the second half during the demanding beat back from Lavezzi, eventually finishing fourth behind Italian entry, Francesco Martino's T..Too. With an all-Italian crew that includes former Olympian, Whitbread racer and America's Cup competitor Pietro D'Alí and solo sailor Andrea Caracci, yesterday's nine hours and a half passage did nothing to unsettle DSK Comifin, which crossed the finish line four minutes ahead of the second-placed Swantastic (ITA).

Although yesterday's podium was dominated by Italian entries, possibly advantaged by sailing in home waters, three American teams are aggressively chasing overall honours. Dick Weismann's Swan 45 Vixen lies in second on 10 points, only one point behind DSK, but with a weighty 22nd scored in the first race of the series as its discard.

Reggie Cole, Captain on board Vixen, is thrilled about his team's results so far: "We are ecstatic with our performances; this is the best event we have ever had. We were well positioned from the start but lost some time around Lavezzi up to Monaci as it was a real struggle here. Although we didn't react to the conditions as well as we could, we managed to push Vixen back into a strong position, with the crew working really hard." Cole's hopes are high for the final outcome of the series: "I am confident that we can catch DSK, we are improving with every race and love a challenge. We have great chemistry onboard and our primary goal is to sail clean races over the weekend. If we continue to sail well and place well, I am confident that we can win."

William A. Douglas's Goombay Smash currently sits third among the Swan 45 fleet on 23 points and a 12th as its worst performance to date. With an inconsistent series of results including a 23rd in race four, one of the pre-regatta favourites, Bellicosa, still hasn't shown the form that enabled Massimo Ferragamo's team to claim the class world championship last January in Key West.

With a second on handicap in yesterday's long distance race and two bullets in the first two days of the series, the British Swan 48 Jacobite owned by Stephen & Benedict James is firmly in the lead among the Classic division. Jacobite holds a comfortable 7-point margin over William J. Kardash's Swan 44 Aura (USA). Monsoon Jaguar, by far the fastest yacht on the water in its division, is lying in third, on equal points with Aura.

Racing for all fleets resumes tomorrow, Saturday, 16 September. Tonight owners will enjoy the hospitality of Rolex and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda at a gala dinner to be held at the YCCS Clubhouse.

The 14th edition of the biennial Rolex Swan Cup, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the collaboration of Nautor's Swan and Rolex as title sponsor, runs from from September 11th to September 17th.

Results

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Sail No.	R1	R2	R3	Tot
	Grand Prix
1	AQUA EQUINOX	Filip Balcaen	BEL6237	2	1	3	6
2	BUGIA BIANCA	Massimo Dentice	ITA14014	1	7	1	9
3	FAVONIUS	Roel Pieper	ITA7	5	3	2	10
4	STAY CALM	Stuart Robinson	GBR70R	4	5	4	13
5	FLYING DRAGON	Paolo Scerni	GBR6770R	8	7	5	20
6	MALIGAYA	Andrew Soriano	GBR8663	6	6	8	20
7	MANU	Urs Brunner	GBR7007	7	10	7	24
8	FANTASTICAAA	Lanfranco Cirillo-Leonid Mikchalson	ITA15185	3	2	22	27
9	BERENICE	Marco Rodolfi	ITA989	14	8	9	31
10	VIRAGO	Stuart & MarrGwen Townsend	USA51114	12	9	13	34
11	THE BLUE PEARL	Anders Johnson	GBR4773	18	11	6	35
12	ATALANTE 2	Raymond Tanghe	BEL565	10	14	12	36
13	SILANDRA V	Gian Luca Braggiotti	MON76	13	13	10	36
14	BRAIN WAVE	J. Brand	NED6131	11	12	14	37
15	CLOVER III	Neil Finnegan	52056	9	15	15	39
16	KIWI INA ASSITALIA	Team Vela Srl	ITA13521	16	17	11	44
17	MARIE BLUE	Carel Paauwe	GBR6095R	15	16	17	48
18	MYSTERY	Bill Ireland	0	19	18	16	53
19	RANI	Jochen Hertzke	GER333	17	22	18	57
20	KING FISHER	Marcel Welling	NED1257	20	19	22	61
21	VARSOVIE	ODA Limited	USA7701	21	20	22	63
	Swan 45
1	DSK COMIFIN	Danilo Salsi	ITA2945	1	4	3	9
2	VIXEN	Dick Weismann	USA45032	22	1	1	10
3	GOOMBAY SMASH	William A. Douglass	USA45454	11	3	2	23
4	BELLICOSA	Massimo Ferragamo	USA52225	9	2	5	25
5	FEVER	Klaus Diederichs/Grant Gordon	GBR945R	6	14	13	28
6	VERTIGO	Marco Salvi	GBR23R	27	9	4	28
7	PLENTY	Alexander Roepers	USA52059	3	10	8	29
8	BANDIT	Andrew Fisher	USA45026	15	6	7	30
9	SWANTASTIC	Galperti - Rabbo'	ITA45013	2	16	19	33
10	WISC	Glynn Williams	GBR45R	7	7	12	37
11	T?TOO	Francesco Martino	ITA15000	10	18	9	40
12	MINTAKA	Stefano Polti	ITA14519	17	17	6	47
13	TALJ - JEROBOAM CA' NOVA	Vittorio Ruggero - Vittorio Codecasa	ITA1452X	17	13	11	49
14	AY! AY! AY!	Leopoldo Gavito	FRA21690	5	30	20	50
15	NEMO	Bernard Lambilliotte	GBR17R	19	15	15	51
16	ATLANTICA RACING	Carlo Perrone	ITA45019	24	11	14	52
17	YASHA	Yukihiro Ishida	JPN6234	26	8	21	52
18	PIPER AT THE GATES OF DOW	Charles Swingland	GBR9050	8	22	10	57
19	STAR TRADING	Stefano Masi	ITA45050	23	12	16	57
20	BLUE NIGHTS	Tea Ekengren-Saur‚n	FIN10390	20	5	30	61
21	CHARISMA	Nico Poons	NED7465	16	21	17	64
22	BELLEROSE - DUVEL	P.Van Heurck/Philippe Moortgat	BEL4528	4	23	24	66
23	MAGICIAN	Jacques Bureau	FRA9400	13	19	18	66
24	GIBIAN	Armando Grandi	ITA4541	18	20	23	82
25	GINGER	Leslie Green/John Calvert Jones	ITA14545	21	25	22	84
26	TOP CLASS	Michael Shlen	ITA14525	12	30	30	102
28	MANDOLINO	Diego Visconti/Martino Orombelli	ITA3001	28	26	30	108
29	EARLY BIRD	Hendrik Brandis/Christian Nage	GER5245	25	30	30	115
	Swan 601
1	ARTEMIS	Torbjorn Tornquist	SWE11011	1	2	1	5
2	MONEYPENNY	James R. Swartz	US61007	2	3	2	7
3	CUOR DI LEONE	Leonardo Ferragamo	ITA16015	3	1	3	10
4	SPIRIT OF JETHOU	Peter Ogden	GBR2601R	4	4	4	15
	Classic
1	JACOBITE	Stephen & Benedict James	GBR48R	1	1	2	4
2	AURA	William J. Kardash	USA51016	2	2	7	11
3	MONSOON JAGUAR	Peter Simon	GBR9165	3	7	1	11
4	JUNKANOO	Colin Buffin	GBR1622	4	5	3	12
5	BLACK TIE	Gavin Howe	GBR43500	8	3	4	15
6	CRILIA	Heinz Gerd Stein	GER4342	10	4	8	22
7	FOREIGN AFFAIR	Paul Basson	MON46	12	6	6	24
8	REEF POINTS	Joseph Huber	USA52244	5	13	9	27
9	MATCHLESS	Carlo Comparini	GBR171	11	15	10	36
10	SOLENIA 2 - SUSI	Fabio Scalzi - Gianmarco Rinaldi	ITA2992	6	25	5	36
11	SELENE	Mark L. Jephcott	GBR976	9	8	22	39
12	EMOTION	Franco Gaiani	ITA12482	16	11	17	44
13	ISKAREEN	Reemt Bruhns	GER4517	15	17	13	45
14	MONOMOTAPA	Per Ame Nielsen	MO9206	25	9	16	50
15	SIMS IV	Stefano Liguori	ITA10029	17	24	12	53
16	DREAM	Francesco Persio	ITA7182	18	22	15	55
17	DIOSCURA	Erling Astrup	NOR11007	28	14	19	61
18	TORTUGA	Sell Guenter	GER4760	42	10	11	63
19	HESTER	Hans Olaf Henkel	GER2969	14	33	18	65
20	LOWLY WORM	John Dean	GBR4639R	7	12	46	65
21	TWILIGHT	Michael J. Huyghe	BEL469	19	21	26	66
22	MILANTO	PASYC	GBR9804	29	16	23	68
23	RITA	Achim Tuerklitz	GER273	23	18	27	68
24	MONTRACHET	Robert Schuijt	NED6293	26	29	14	69
25	BLACK SWAN	Gaetano Breviglieri	ITA8155	20	26	29	75
26	NORTHERN CHILD	Julian Sincock	GBR5951T	21	34	24	79
27	CHERI HAKKATAN	Ronald Wulff	GER777	24	35	21	80
28	HINANO	Pietro, Matteo e Paolo Algeloni	USA51047	30	30	20	80
29	SAIDA	Michael Krueger	GER4365	34	23	25	82
30	SASSENACH	Ian Laing	GBR532R	37	20	28	85
31	WAY OF LIFE	Max Manuel Luders	GER4141	31	19	35	85
32	YELLOWDRAMA	Stephen Matthews	GBR1250	22	39	31	92
33	KIDOGO III	Geminiani Enzo	ITA6184	13	38	46	97
34	ASTRA	Jeremy Paul	GBR9664	41	27	30	98
35	FIDIBU'	Alfonso Weber	FIN5252	33	36	33	102
36	BALLYTRIM	Andrew Allner	GBR5046R	40	32	34	106
37	KENTA	Filippo e Marco Alver…	ITA3565R	39	31	36	106
38	VAITIARA	Battista Galliani	ITA9384	32	43	32	107
39	GUNDEL G	Jens Ulrich Kiessling	GER4850	35	28	46	109
40	TARANTELLA	Oy Nautor Ab	FIN36001	27	41	46	114
41	MAGIA II	Enrico Scopesi	ITA5529	36	40	46	122
42	ALBABLU	Renato Irrera	ITA11844	38	42	46	126
43	VENATOR	L. H. Prins	NED6504	43	37	46	126
44	BERGAME	Pierre Rouaud	FRA34606	44	46	37	127
45	FREELANCE	F. Javier Ortiz de Zuntiga	BEL678	46	46	46	138