Swan envy at Newport-Bermuda event

by Annabel Merrison on 29 Jun 2004 Today, the Swan 45, Alliance, owned by Dominic Porco, won the IMS Racer/Cruiser Division in the prestigious Newport Bermuda Race 2004.

Over 100 yachts crossed the line in the 44th biennial race, which set off from Newport, Rhode Island on 18th June. With a finishing time of 84 hours, 18 minutes and 40 seconds, Porco and his crew will be awarded the impressive St David's Lighthouse Trophy at the prize giving on Saturday.

Bud Darr, Porco's navigator, played a key role in the victory but was quick to praise Porco and the rest of his crewmates. Darr, finishing his seventh Newport Bermuda Race, said: ‘We came out of the Gulf Stream locked in a duel with Swan 45, Better Than. They went to the right and we went left.

As we separated, the crew took the challenge and decided that we would do better than Better Than. The crew broke watches, got up on the rail, made all the sail changes and kept a very positive attitude. They worked extra hard for the last 18 hours and that helped us to win.'

Nautor Swans took centre stage in the race, with models across the classes imposing an impressive and dominating presence. Alongside Alliance, other Swan 45's had an outstanding race and proved an unstoppable force in Class 6.

Excelling in the conditions, Nautor's first One Design Class model again proved to be capable of performance at the highest level. Second place in the Class went to Better Than, owned by Andre Rojek, with the Swan 45's Plenty and Devocean taking third and fourth position.

In Class 3, Swans also dominated, taking the three podium positions, with Swan 441, Cygnette, Swan 44, Cresendo and Swan 46, Galadriel achieving remarkable success at this prestigious event.

With over 30 Swans flocking together for this 635-mile course, the Newport Bermuda Race, representing the Swan Eastern American Challenge on the Swan calendar, is one of six annual Swan Challenges, open to owners from around the world.

As part of the Swan Challenge series, Nautor's Swan will award Dominic Porco and his crew on Alliance the Swan Challenge Trophy, for their position as highest placed Swan in the race.

The success of Alliance and the other Swan 45's in this race bodes well for the inaugural Swan 45 Gold Cup, taking place this year at the Yacht Club Italiano in Capri from the 9th to 15th October. This year for the first time, the Swan 45 fleet will race to determine the world champion of this competitive One-Design Class fleet.

With over forty Swan 45s around the world, it is anticipated that more than twenty-five will gather in Capri to compete for the prestigious Gold Cup.