Wolf flies

After first day of Swan 45 Championship in Cowes PLUS photo gallery from Mark Pepper

Today saw the first Swan 45 Area Championship in the UK start in Cowes with a fleet of seven boats battling it out for the championship title with crew's consisting of America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race sailors. Taking a convincing lead on the first day of this two day regatta was Glynn Williams' Swan 45 Wolf in Sheep's Clothing' (WISC), which managed to win two our of the three windward/leeward races.

Racing started at 10.00 despite very light winds, resulting in a slow start for these performance boats. However it was WISC who came out of the starting blocks first and managed to hold this position throughout Race One, which was eventually shortened to accommodate the variable conditions. As the breeze filled in for the second race, Leonardo Ferragamo made a valiant attempt to catch WISC with his own Swan 45 Cuordileone with an outstanding start, but narrowly failed along with Tony Mack's McFly and Keith Miller's Crackerjack who were both applying the pressure.

This pressure finally paid off with McFly utilising the experience on board to take the third and final race ahead of Graham de Zille's Amnesia. However this was not enough to keep Williams off the top spot: "It was a great first day for us, and I am thrilled with how the crew sailed - everything went to plan," commented Williams.

He continued: "I have a regular crew onboard, who have sailed together since I purchased the boat and I think that really showed today. We won at Cork Week and had a very successful regatta here in Easter with the Swan 45s, so the plan was always to come to the Area Championship and show we mean business - I'll try not to have a lapse of concentration in the third race tomorrow!"

Tony Mack, owner of McFly was pleased with his third place, behind Graham deZille's Amnesia: "There is some healthy competition out there on the water showing what a close fleet it is. The conditions were't great today but we all sailed well and it was great to see us all fighting for position despite the light winds. There are some seriously experienced sailors throughout the fleet which has added a new dimension to this championship!"

This performance Swan has attracted a wide selection of sailors and this event proves just that with an incredible mix of experience across all the crews. Amnesia have Alinghi navigator and Whitbread legend, Andrew Cape on board while Ferragamo's Cuordileone can boast two America's Cup sailors with Ian Budgen and Mark Chisnell. In addition, McFly has got Volvo Ocean Race skipper, Jez Fanstone and Whitbread sailor/builder, Jason Carrington who also formed part of Ellen MacArthur's crew in her recent Jules Verne attempt.

But it is not just the racing that will keep these owners and crews entertained. As with every Nautor' Swan regatta, the Swan 45 Area Championship has a packed social calendar which started last night with the official Opening Ceremony at the Royal Yacht Squadron, the host yacht club. The reception was held in the Pavilion and saw Rear Commodore, John Grandy welcome all owners and crews to the first Swan 45 Northern European Area Championship. This event also gave Nautor's President, Leonardo Ferragamo, a chance address the owners and crews and check out the opposition for the racing ahead!

The Swan 45 Northern European Championship will continue tomorrow, Friday 27 June, with three windward/leeward races. The final prize giving will be held on Saturday 28th June in the Royal Yacht Squadron. This event will also mark the opening of the Swan European Regatta, which starts on Sunday 29th June with over 55 Swans competing for title of 'Best Swan in Europe' over a period of five days.

Overall results of Race Day One:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	Tot
1	WISC	Glynn Williams	1	1	3	5
2	Amnesia	Graham de Zille	4	3	2	9
3	McFly	Tony Mack	3	5	1	9
4	Crackerjack	Keith Miller	2	4	4	10
5	Cuordileone	Leonardo Ferragamo	7	2	5	14
6	Alvine II	Harry Evans	5	7	6	18
7	Fever	Grant Gordon/Klaus Diederichs	6	6	7	19