Leaderboard starts to take shape at The Nations Trophy Swan One Design

On the second day of racing at The Nations Trophy - Swan One Design, the Race Committee managed to get two more races in despite the light and shifty winds, bringing the fleet to a total of five races held, out of the maximum eight scheduled.

Today's conditions were characterised by the thermal breeze contrasting with the first signs of the incoming Mistral, and meant that the tacticians had a particularly demanding job in interpreting the wind shifts and drops and identifying areas of pressure in order to gain an advantage over their rivals. More generally, all the crews felt the tension in a situation where a small mistake could cost dearly. 

In the first race, which started in a south-easterly wind of about 7 knots, the ClubSwan 36 class saw a clear win by Sandro Paniccia's Sixth Sense, with Gabriele Benussi on tactics and Pietro D'Alì on the mainsail. Fra Martina, second across the line, had battled G Spot throughout the race, but on the final leg the Brazilian hull Mamao managed to squeeze past Monaco's G Spot. In the second race, unavoidably shortened at the second windward mark, victory went to Cuordileone, ahead of Mamao and G Spot. With a fifth race now under their belts, the worst result can now be discarded for all classes. G Spot maintains the lead in the provisional overall ranking, five points ahead of Fra Martina and six from Cuordileone.

The ClubSwan 42s are particularly at ease in light air, and the racing in this class saw the boats grouped close together and with little differentiating their performances. In the first race of the day victory went to Alberto Fusco's Koyré - Spirit of Nerina, with Flavio Favini on tactics, who won ahead of Nadir and Selene Alifax. The second race for the ClubSwan 42 class was also shortened to finish at the second windward mark, where Andrea Rossi's Mela triumphed over Nadir and Selene Alifax. The provisional overall ranking is now decidedly tight, with the top four boats separated by one point each. In the lead is the Spanish boat Nadir, owned by Pedro Vaquer Comas, tailed closely by Mela and Selene Alifax.

Flavio Favini, tactician on Koiré-Spirit of Nerina: "A difficult day, with wind shifts and waves, but we often fish better in troubled waters... In general we are sailing well upwind, but we have a lot to improve on downwind, where our opponents often catch us."

The ClubSwan 50 class, the largest with 13 entries, saw two general recalls before the first race was able to get underway, only to be rapidly abandoned due to a wind shift. At 1.40 p.m. the first race started in about 8 knots from the south-east. Enis Ersu's Xai Vision claimed the win, as tactician Hamish Pepper immediately chose the right side of the course and took the lead, tacking shrewdly on the wind shifts to go on to win race four. Marcus Brenneke's Hatari came in second, and third was Giovanni Lombardi's Django, fielding Vasco Vascotto and Tommaso Chieffi in the afterguard. In the second race of the day, which featured a significant wind shift in the final part, the victor was Andrea Bianchedi's Drifter Sail, with tactician Diego Negri, 2021 Star Class World Champion, followed by Hatari and Vitamina. 

Diego Negri, tactician on Drifter Sail: "Last night was our owner's birthday party and today we managed to give him the gift of a good win in the second race of a day where the wind was difficult to interpret, with lots of shifts and the contrast with the Mistral that came in at the end. In particular, the options were between the higher pressure on the left side of the course or taking advantage of the rotation to the right. We made a comeback to win by a length over Vitamina, I have to admit we had a bit of luck."

The provisional general classification sees Marcus Brenneke's Hatari consolidate her lead on 6 points, while Andrea Masi's Ulika follows in second place on 14 points. Third place for Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone, with 16 points.

Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow, 23 June, at 12.00 noon with a coastal race. The weather forecast indicates the arrival of an intense Mistral.