DSK First Amongst Equals - Rolex Swan Cup

by KPMS on 14 Sep 2006 After four fiercely competitive races between the Swan 601s that are crewed by some of the most famous names in sailing, Torbjorn Tornquist's Artemis is leading the fleet. With Russell Coutts calling the shots, the Swedish entry posted two second places and one victory. In the Swan 45 Class otherwise dominated by the American entries, Danilo Salsi's DSK Comifin (ITA), tops the leaderboard after four consecutive top four finishes. In the Grand Prix fleet, Filip Balcaen's Aqua Equinox (BEL) leads the fleet, with three points from two coastal races.

The crews competing in the 14th Rolex Swan Cup were greeted early this morning by rolling thunder and blustery conditions. The bad weather predicted on Monday finally showed up, with easterly-southeasterly winds ranging between 12 and 16 knots and isolated squalls. At around 2pm the clouds cleared out, the sun appeared and the wind increased to 18 knots.

The four Swan 601s completed three windward-leeward races with varied wind conditions, which included extremely light to moderate winds and a heavy rain squall. With an impressive record of 1,2,1,2 Torbjorn Tornquist's Artemis (SWE) is currently leading on 6 points, ahead of James R. Swartz's Moneypenny (USA) on 8 points and Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuor di Leone (ITA) on 15 points.

Cuor di Leone claimed the first victory of the day, followed by Artemis and Moneypenny. The key moment of the race came as the fleet converged on the second beat. Moneypenny had established an early lead but was on port tack and unable to cross Cuor di Leone. The American boat was forced to tack back onto the left hand side of the course, with the right providing to be favoured. Artemis also benefited to take second place behind the Italians.

The start of the second race of the day for the Swan 601s (race 3 of the series) saw the fleet vying for the pin end of the line. With America's Cup legend Russell Coutts calling the shots, Artemis won the pin end contest and led from start to finish to add another first place to the victory on the first day of racing. Spirit of Jethou was in second place at the first windward mark after striking out to the right hand side of the course, but was overhauled downwind by both Moneypenny and Cuor di Leone, with the American boat taking second place.

The third and last race of the day (race four of the series) featured an America's Cup style match race between Moneypenny and Artemis, with a change of lead at each mark rounding. Moneypenny eventually claimed the victory. Russell Coutts felt that so far this has been the most demanding race of the series for his team on Artemis: 'Although there are only four boats in the fleet, it was really close today. In the last race it got windier so everything got much harder. We kept exchanging the lead with Moneypenny - we were first around the bottom mark, they led around the top mark, we were first again around the bottom mark, they passed us at the top mark and then they just got the finish. It was a great race.'

The Swan45 fleet completed another two tight windward-leeward races. Dick Weismann's Vixen (USA) continued her winning form from yesterday, collecting a second consecutive victory and a third place. However Danilo Salsi's Italian entry DSK tops the leader board after four races, with a fifteen point gap.

Vixen forms part of a strong American chasing pack featuring Williams Douglass' Goombay Smash, Andrew Fisher's Bandit and Alexander Roepers' Plenty. All four have shown themselves capable of top three finishes in the highly competitive one-design fleet. Britain's hopes are headed by Glynn Williams onboard WISC in sixth place.

The Race Committee selected a highly technical 39-miles course for the Grand Prix division (21 entries) that led the crews on a clockwise circumnavigation of the Archipelago de La Maddalena, all the way up to the Lavezzi rocks which stand in the infamous Bocche di Bonifacio, halfway between Sardinia and the French island of Corsica. At the first windward mark, the Italian Swan 100 S Fantasticaaa co-owned by Lanfranco Cirillo and Leonid Mikchalson, was already well in the lead. In a building breeze, the fleet sailed on a long downwind run towards Lavezzi, which included plenty of gybing duels and a violent rain squall that spared none but the three leading boats. Finally, the crews tackled a long beat to the Gulf of Pevero and the finish. Exactly as yesterday, Fantasticaaa led throughout the entire course eventually taking line honours in its division and coming in second on handicap. Filip Balcaen's Swan 56 Aqua Equinox (BEL) won the race on corrected time and is now the overall leader of the Grand Prix division ahead of Massimo Dentice's Bugia Bianca (Swan 70) from Italy and Fantasticaaa. Balcaen commented: 'We are happy, we sailed really well, taking some good options and going to the right places. Most of the time we were sailing alone, behind the big boats and ahead of the small ones.'

Bugia Bianca, who yesterday scored a first on handicap, today suffered from a bad start which involved an OCS and a light collision with the Swan 80 Maligaya. America's Cup veteran Tony Rey, calling the tactics on the Italian Swan 70, commented: 'We had a discussion after yesterday's victory that our helmsman Nicola Celon would be more conservative in the start because we think our speed is ok, we are sailing well and we want to stay out of trouble. But today before the gun went off for sure we got in some trouble. We thought we were over early and we also had a small contact with Maligaya. We were in the wrong so we took a penalty turn. It made it a difficult race for the team, but we think we were able to get back in the game. In the end we had a very good battle with the other Swan 70 Stay Calm that is sailed very well. They did a fantastic job. We had a wonderful upwind battle with them and we beat them on the line. In this class there's going to be a lot of good racing.'

The Classic division (45 entries) sailed on a 30-mile coastal course throughout the Archipelago de La Maddalena, using the island of Spargi as a leeward mark and enduring the same weather conditions as the Grand Prix fleet. After an impressive and colourful parade downwind, the boats sailed on a long technical beat around Spargi, back to the Gulf of Pevero and the finish. In an almost carbon copy situation as yesterday, Peter Simon's Swan 65 Monsoon Jaguar led the entire race claiming line honours with a massive 25-minute delta over Stephen and Benedict James's Swan 48 Jacobite, who yesterday claimed victory on handicap and now stands first overall in its division. The Swan 44 Aura (USA) sits in second followed by another Swan 44, Junkanoo (GBR). Peter Simon, owner of Monsoon Jaguar, has never sailed before in Porto Cervo and so far he is thrilled: 'It was a fantastic day's sailing. It's the first time I've competed here and I'm just having a great time. It's really nice to cross the line first two days in a row, on both days we've not really seen much of the rest of the fleet, we're with them at the beginning but then we just see them in the distance throughout the race. Today's start was a little more difficult than yesterday as we had more boats closing in on us but it didn't affect us too much. Everyone is really pleased with the way the boat is sailing after she underwent a major refit this winter. I think she likes stronger winds better, we're really looking forward to the long race tomorrow and if the wind continues to pick up that will be all the better for us.'

Although the crews enjoyed a sunny break in the afternoon, a new front approaching from the Balearic Islands will soon reach Porto Cervo. According to Major Filippo Petrucci, official meteorologist for the event, 'as from tonight the weather will deteriorate quite fast, and tomorrow the winds will shift to the southwest-west, increasing to 16-18 knots.' Tomorrow all fleets are scheduled to race on the so-called long rac