The Swan One Design Worlds, Swan One Design World Championship has started today in the waters of the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, with three tests for each of the participating classes, offering an exciting show thanks to the dynamic conditions that have been given today in Valencian waters.
The ClubSwan 42 class finished the day led by two Spanish-flagged boats, making their first appearance on this year’s circuit in Valencia. Pedro Vaquer’s Nadir is at the head of the provisional table, with two victories in the day’s tests and a score of 1-3-1, followed by José María Meseguer’s Pez De Abril, four points behind.
Back on the jetty, Vaquer commented that “Today’s test was very difficult because there was wind, but, above all, there were many waves, and in those conditions it is difficult to steer the boat. We come to win but I think that any boat of the nine that we are can win the championship, and starting with two first and a third is very good”.
ClubSwan 50: three tests, three winners
Equally disputed, the ClubSwan 50 class with 16 boats in contention, has had three different winners throughout the day.
Cuordileone, with Leonardo Ferragamo at the helm, ended the day in first place with a result of 3-3-1, one point ahead of Hatari, led by Marcus Brennecke, current defending world champion in the class, who took victory in the first test.
Earlybird, another German flag unit like Hatari, has been in third position followed closely by the Belgian Balthasar. The owner and skipper of Balthasar, Louis Balcaen assured: “Today we had some epic sailing conditions, up to 20 knots, unbelievable, with hot weather and a lot of wind. You can see in the buoy shots that the level is getting higher and higher, the competition getting tighter and tighter. We had a penalty at the windward mark, so we made life a bit difficult for ourselves today, but we managed to win the second round, which was very good”.
ClubSwan 36: Brazil takes advantage
Meanwhile, the first day leader in the ultra-competitive ClubSwan 36 fleet has also been the boat that has come from farthest, from Brazil, no less, to be in Valencia: Mamao.
With a result of 1-2-3, the Brazilian boat finished the day two points ahead of the British Black Seal, winner of the Swan Sardinia Challenge in June, with Richard Thompson’s crew taking the last two victories.
Mamao’s owner, Haakon Lorentzen, claimed: “It’s been really good, and I think we were the winners of the day. We’re having fun and it’s great to get back to international racing. We’re here to do the best we can.”
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism