22nd Rolex Swan Cup kicks off tomorrow with fleet of 101 boats

The Rolex Swan Cup, a biennial event now in its 22nd edition, is set to get underway this evening with a skipper's briefing followed by a welcome cocktail on the terrace of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda for Nautor Swan owners along with their crews.

No less than 101 boats from the Finnish shipyard have enrolled in this 22nd edition, as always organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of Rolex and in collaboration with Nautor Swan. This year marks 40 years of partnership, dating back to 1984 when the third edition of the Swan Cup adopted its current name.

The Rolex Swan Cup is a regatta with a dual soul, represented by the racing-oriented ClubSwan One Design range, alongside yachts designed for long-distance sailing, ranging from heritage models up to the more modern bluewater cruisers and maxis. The 101 boats gathered on the docks in front of the YCCS form a varied fleet, spanning a spectrum that goes from early models right up to the latest maxis. Participants range from the 36-foot Isabella from Germany, to the 65-foot King's Legend from the Netherlands, which placed second in the 1977-78 Whitbread Round the World Race, and the modern 30-metre Swan 98 Drifter Cube, the largest yacht taking part in Porto Cervo. Equally different are the approaches to the Rolex Swan Cup taken by owners: on the docks, crews of family and friends mix with major names in international sailing, from Vasco Vascotto to Paul Cayard, to name but two. While crews flock to Porto Cervo from all over the world, most of the boats here hail from Europe, but yachts have also travelled from Asia, America, Australia and Africa to take part. Two Japanese yachts (ClubSwan 28 Swing and Swan 68 Defiance) join two from Australia (S&S 65 Eve and Swan 53 Bedouin), one from the USA (ClubSwan 28 Play Bigger), one from Argentina (Swan 45 mod. From Now On), one from India (Swan 58 Aquarius) and the Egyptian ClubSwan 36 Lady Ghada.

Making its regatta debut in Porto Cervo is the ClubSwan 28, a one-design sportboat measuring just 8.5 metres - the smallest model ever built by the yard. Five boats from this new class will be racing together for the first time at the 22nd Rolex Swan Cup. Some owners of larger Swan models have been drawn to add the ClubSwan 28 to their stables, as is the case for Anya Race, whose owner Giulio Gatti already owns the Swan 48 Anya, while YCCS member Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, racing on his ClubSwan 50 Django, has also purchased a 28 of the same name for his children. The 28s will race on windward-leeward courses, as will the ClubSwan 36 class, with seven yachts entered.

The Swan One Design Division groups together all the models with a racing soul, in addition to the ClubSwan 28 and ClubSwan 36, it includes the larger ClubSwan 42, Swan 45 and ClubSwan 50 models with 4, 6 and 13 competitors respectively. The latter three classes will take on windward-leeward courses as well as a coastal race around the islands of the La Maddalena archipelago. 

The Swan Maxi Division A fields 15 entries, including the 82-footer Kallima Randstad with Paul Cayard, Tommaso Chieffi and Federico Michetti, Nautor Swan's Director of Sport Activities, on board. The 13 heritage boats present in Porto Cervo, all designed by Sparkman & Stephens, are grouped in the Swan S&S Division B. The Swan Division C is the largest class, with 29 boats competing.

On their return from racing, competitors will gather for daily refreshments in Piazza Azzurra. On Thursday 19 September, owners will attend the Owners’ Dinner on the YCCS terrace, while the following day the Rolex Dinner Party will take place for all crews.

Racing is set to start on Tuesday 17 September at 12 noon CEST, with a north-easterly wind of 11 to 18 knots forecast. Over the course of the week the breeze is forecast to decrease and shift to the east. The Rolex Swan Cup will conclude on Saturday 21 September after 5 days of racing.