Bandit lays down gauntlet - Swan American Regatta

by Sarah Jackson on 18 Jul 2007 In a dominant performance on the first day of racing in the Swan American Regatta, Andrew Fisher's Bandit took the honours in the NYYC Swan 42 fleet with two victories in the new one-design fleet. Lying in second place with five points is Tsunami, after two podium finishes.

Fisher's crew paid tribute to his helming skills and those of the strategic skills displayed by his tactician. Midbowmen, Scott Price, commented: 'Our tactician, Steve Benjamin, did a fantastic job today and put us in really good positions on the race course. Andy Fisher, our driver, also did a phenomenal job for us. We've had a great day today and we're just happy to be part of the fleet as the competition is really strong. Tsunami has a phenomenal crew and has done very well today so they're definitely one to watch, as are Amelia.'

In Class A, Leonardo Ferragamo's Italian Swan 601 Pioneer Investments by Cuordileone lies in first place overnight after victory in the second race. Jim Swartz' American entry Moneypenny is equal on three points, but second on countback behind the fellow Swan 601. In third place is Martin Fisher's Swan 70 Strabo.

The standout performance in Class C came from Crescendo, with a mixture of America's Cup experience and dinghy sailing talent onboard. Triple world champion in the 470 class, Nathan Wilmott from Australia is helmed the Swan 44 to victory in both races today.

The non-spinnaker class also sees a defending champion leading the fleet overnight, with Joseph Huber's Swan 44 Reef Points also recording two victories.

After a three hour delay, racing finally got underway at the Swan American Regatta at 14:15. Having spent the morning monitoring the weather conditions in the area, the New York Yacht Club Race Committee moved the fleet to the Atlantic Ocean to take advantage of the building breeze. As the wind steadied at 5-7 knots from the South, racing got underway on the 1.7 mile course.

In an extremely competitive start many of the NYYC Swan 42's jockeyed for position at the pin end of the line. As the gun was fired the two yachts right on the pin, Alexander Jackson's Amelia and Gary Jobson's Mustang were recalled for being over the line early. Amelia fought her way back through the fleet to second at the windward mark, 21 seconds behind Tsunami, with Andrew Fisher's Bandit a further 23 seconds back.

As the one design fleet converged at the leeward marks, Tsunami approached from the right with Amelia on the favoured starboard tack sailing in from the left hand side. Having originally set up for the left hand leeward mark, as the lead boats came together Tsunami's were forced to gybe and sail for the right hand mark. Tsunami rounded 15 seconds behind, closely followed by Bandit.

In Class A, Jim Swartz's Moneypenny executed a perfect pin end start, hitting the line at speed to establish an early advantage. Leonardo Ferragamo's Italian Pioneer Investments by Cuordileone pursued the fellow Swan 601 around the course but was unable to overhaul her. Moneypenny held a 48 second lead at the first mark, but extended throughout to record a victory.

America's Cup legend Tom Whidden, sailing on board Pioneer Investments by Cuordileone outlined how Swartz's team won the race. 'We didn't have the perfect start, we could see it was better on the left but Moneypenny did a better job of getting there. They had slightly better boat speed than us but we sailed a good first beat to stay close to them. After that the wind kept going right, which meant there were fewer opportunities to make gains or pass them. Overall, Moneypenny sailed really well and deserved the victory.'

This evening's social event will see the New York Yacht Club hosting the Owners Dinner at the stunning Harbour Court. During the dinner, Vice Commodore David Elwell will be presenting prizes to the day's winners and Leonardo Ferragamo will make the most of the opportunity to formally welcome owners to the regatta. The dinner will provide a welcome opportunity to examine the first day's sailing, and to catch up with good friends within the ClubSwan community.

Results

Class A
1 Pioneer Investments by Cuordileone: Leonardo Ferragamo - 2, 1 - 3
2 Moneypenny: Jim Swartz - 1, 2 - 3
3 Strabo: Martin Fisher - 4, 3 - 7

Class B
1 Bandit, Andrew Fisher: 1, 1 - 2
2 Tsunami, Preben-Ostberg, Ara, Dailey: 3, 2 - 5
3 Amelia, Alexander Jackson: 2, 4 - 6

Class C
1 Crescendo, Martin Jacobson: 1, 1 - 2
2 Vixen, John Wayt: 2, 5 - 7
3 Xenophon, Jeffrey Rabuffo: 4, 3 - 7

Class D
1 Reef Points, Joseph Huber: 1, 1 - 2
2 Avocation, Breyer, Schmidt: 2, 3 - 5
3 Grace, Eugene Gold: 4, 2 - 6