Swan 80 Favonius Seals Maxi Class Victory at PalmaVela

by Katy Gilmartin on 20 Apr 2009
Swan 80 Favonius has sealed victory in the opening regatta of the 2009 Swan Maxi Class Circuit at PalmaVela. In a closely fought series Favonius had done enough on the first two days of the regatta, winning all four windward leeward races, to take first place overall.

In the second coastal race of the regatta, the Swan 82 Grey Goose continued their run of good form beating Favonius for the second consecutive day in a light and shifty 23 mile race around the Bay. In testing conditions, Grey Goose finished in 4th place in the final race, just one minute off 2nd place on corrected time which would have won them the regatta. Favonius however proved a worthy competitor finishing in 5th place which was enough to seal the regatta win and top the scoreboard of the Swan Maxi Class Circuit.

Roel Pieper, owner driver of Swan 80 Favonius, commented 'PalmaVela has been an excellent addition to the Swan Maxi Class Circuit. We were delighted that there was such a strong field of Swan Maxi’s and that they were so competitive across all divisions and now look forward to our next event the Giraglia Cup in St Tropez this June.'

Tactician onboard Swan 80 Favonius, Ossie Stewart commented 'PalmaVela had great conditions for the first two days of the regatta and some interesting racing over the weekend. It was a great way to start the Swan Maxi Class Circuit'.

Swan 601 @Robas, helmed by Gerard Logel, racing in the Mini Maxi Cruiser / Racer division narrowly missed winning their class after a difficult final race in which they finished in 3rd place.

The overall Swan Maxi Class scoreboard, based on corrected speed results for both fleets, after six races:

1st - Swan 80, Favonius: 1,1,1,1, 4, 2 (6 points)

2nd - Swan 82, Grey Goose: 3,2,2,2,2, 1 (9 points)

3rd - Swan 601, @Robas: 2,3,3,4,1, 4 (13 points)

4th - Swan 80, Astro: 4,4,5,3,5, 3 (19 points)

5th - Swan 68, Risktaker: 6,5,4,5,3, 6 (23 points)