Nations Trophy Mediterranean League - Sail Racing Palma Vela starts next week
by The Nations Trophy 24 Apr 2018 11:04 PDT
2-6 May 2018
Nations Trophy Mediterranean League - Sail Racing Palma Vela © Carlo Borlenghi
The second event in The Nations Trophy Mediterranean League 2018 for Swan One Design yachts starts next week. Sail Racing PalmaVela (2 – 6 May) organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma, and now in its 15th edition, has long been a firm favourite with Swan owners and this year is no different.
22 Swans will be competing, 17 of which appear in the one design categories: ClubSwan 50 (seven entries), Swan 45 (5) and ClubSwan 42 (5). Nine races are planned for each one design class.
Palma was the scene of the inaugural Nations Trophy in October 2017 and a number of protagonists from that event will be participating at PalmaVela, including the three individual class winners Earlybird (ClubSwan 50 - Hendrik Brandis, GER), Porron IX (Swan 45 - Luis Senis Segarra, ESP) and Nadir (ClubSwan 42 – Pedro Vaquer, ESP). Segarra and Porron IX have already laid down a strong marker for their likely performance after winning the Mediterranean League opener at the Yacht Club de Monaco, in April: “We are hoping to win The Nations Trophy Mediterranean League overall. There will be more completion in Palma. It will make it harder, but we like strong competition!”
ClubSwan 50
Strength is a common characteristic in all three Swan One Design fleets. In ClubSwan 50, Earlybird may be the reigning European Champion, but Ulika, Niramo, Skorpios and Onegroup all proved themselves capable of beating Brandis' crack crew last year and will be keen to knock the Germans off their perch. Morten Kielland's Swiss entry, Malthilde, is another to watch out for. During a close fought contest in Monaco, Mathilde showed impressive consistency and just missed out on the overall win by one point. Kielland and his tactician, Leigh McMillan, were given kudos by Ken Read - tactician on Cuordileone, the winner of the Monaco Swan One Design - for the crew's evident improvement over the winter and their decision-making on the racecourse, saying: "I give them great credit. We had our hands full all week."
Swan 45
The Swan 45 fleet is also packed with experience and world champion Porron IX will certainly be up against the strong competition her owner enjoys. The Dutch pair of Motions & K-Force were both within a whisker of the Spanish crew at The Nations Trophy last October. Relentless precision in crew work and manoeuvres across the four days of racing will be key. Christian Plump's Elena Nova (GER) is a former Swan 45 World Champion and should not be discounted from the mix.
ClubSwan 42
While none of the competing ClubSwan 42s took part in the Monaco event in April, the rivalries on the water will be no less intense. Nadir, by virtue of the win last October, is the ClubSwan 42 European Champion. Vaquer's crew will renew competition with José Maria Meseguer's Pez de Abril, which finished second overall and will be looking to improve upon that result. It may require a herculean effort. Nadir won the class by 10-points posting scores in the top-three throughout (save a final sixth, when the regatta win was secured).
Handicap Entries
Elsewhere at PalmaVela, the Swan fraternity will be represented in the IMA Maxi Division by Wendy Schmidt and the Swan 80 Selene; while the Swan 56s La Belle (Frans Van Belle, NED) and Intrigue (Joaquin Verona, ESP), the Swan 53 Silveren Swaen (Frank Werst, NED) and the ClubSwan 42 Daring Sister (Tomas Dolezal, CZE) will race in the ORC Division.
The Nations Trophy 2019
Earlier this month, Nautor's Swan announced Palma de Mallorca as the location for the second edition of The Nations Trophy, which will be held from 8 – 12 October 2019. Once again, the event will be hosted by the Real Club Náutico de Palma, who did such a tremendous job with the first edition. "The Real Club Náutico de Palma is a perfect venue for the Swan One Design events," advises Leonardo Ferragamo, Group Executive Chairman of Nautor's Swan. "The Nations Trophy concept was launched in Palma last October and was a great success because the values of the RCNP perfectly match those of Nautor's Swan."
The Nations Trophy Mediterranean League 2018
This year, Nautor's Swan has extended the concept of Swan One Design yachts fighting for individual glory as well as for their country by introducing a season-long league in the Mediterranean. The Nations Trophy Mediterranean League maintains the spirit of gentlemanly competition engendered by the original event. Adding further excitement to the concept, the results of the 2018 and 2019 Mediterranean Leagues will impact upon the final result of The Nations Trophy 2019. Following the first event of the 2018 League, Italy tops the nations podium by two points from Switzerland, with Russia in third.