ClubSwan One Designs will compete at the 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE
by Alejandro Varela 22 Jul 2021 15:28 AEST
31 July - 7 August 2021
The ClubSwan 42 fleet © Nico Martínez / Copa del Rey MAPFRE
Three ClubSwan fleets of one-designs will compete at this year's 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE. For the first time the innovative ClubSwan 36 will be a class along with the ClubSwan 50 and the ClubSwan 42 ensuring there will be 38 boats from 13 countries racing.
ClubSwan is the prestigious marque for those one-design boats built by the prestigious Finnish shipyard Nautor's Swan. ClubSwan first joined the Copa del Rey MAPFRE in 2017 with the ClubSwan 42 and also the ClubSwan 50. These classes return to the Bay of Palma again this year together along with the premiere of the revolutionary ClubSwan 36. In total the ClubSwan fleet of 38 different teams will come from 13 nationalities and so in fact ClubSwans will comprise more than a third of the total fleet of this 39th edition. Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Monaco, Romania, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland will be represented by ClubSwan one-design boats on the Bay of Palma.
"Having such a large fleet and with the quality of the ClubSwan is an honour and a guarantee of a sporting spectacle," explains Vivi Mainemare, RCNP's sports coordinator. "Their status as one-design boats make the races much tighter and more exciting."
ClubSwan 50
The ClubSwan 50 was presented first during the 2017 Copa del Rey MAPFRE as the first Juan Kouyoumdjian's design for Nautor's Swan. Her 15.25-meter-long hull is distinguished by a signature inverted bow with a bowsprit. The powerful rig is almost 20 meters high. In their fourth consecutive participation, the ClubSwan 50s will bring together 16 teams of eight nationalities. Pablo Garriga's Tenaz will be the only Spanish boat and they will compete against teams from Germany, Belgium, UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia and Switzerland. Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone will be out to defend her title. Among her rivals will be the most successful boat of the class in the waters of Palma: Henrik Brandis' Earlybird, runner-up in 2019 and winner both in 2018 and 2017.
ClubSwan 42
The ClubSwan 42 is a 42.6-foot (13 meters) boat designed by German Frers and presented in 2006 to be sailed especially by amateur crews. For her fourth Copa del Rey MAPFRE as a class, it will muster eleven teams from seven countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, UK and Romania). The Romanian boat Natalia, ownered by Natalia Brailou, will defend the title achieved last year against rivals such as the Spaniard Pez de Abril owned by José María Meseguer, winner in 2017 and 2018.
ClubSwan 36
The history of ClubSwan 36 is closely linked to the RCNP. The revolutionary one design drawn by Juan Kouyomdjian made its world debut in competition during the Nations Trophy held in October 2019 at the Spanish yacht club, and this year it returns to form its own class for the first time in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE. With a length of 11 meters, the ClubSwan 36 has an innovative C-shaped retractable foil that optimizes her stability and is designed to be sailed by six or seven crew members.
"She is a modern and very different boat; technically speaking, she makes more difficult the organization of the one-design boats' race area since she has very different characteristics depending on the wind, but at the same time this is a beautiful challenge for the organization at sea," Mainemare points out. Her debut attracts eleven teams of six nationalities (UK, Hungary, Italy, Monaco, Russia and Sweden).
The three Nautor's Swan classes will complete a maximum of 11 W/L races from Monday August 2 until Saturday August 7. The 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE will be also the third scoring regatta for the one-design European circuit ClubSwan: The Nations League Med.
Not just One Designs
The participation of Swan boats in the 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE transcends the three classes of ClubSwan One Design. Among the BMW ORC fleets, another two ClubSwan 42s will compete and up to five Swan 45s will do so too (including Porrón IX of Luis Senís, Swan 45 class champion in 2019, and Rafael Carbonell's Rats on Fire, winner in BMW ORC 1 class in 2017), which brings the representation of the Finnish shipyard up to 45 boats.
"I've always loved Copa del Rey MAPFRE and I have seen it as a great point of reference in my sailing for decades. The fact that now this race became a point of reference for a great community of Swan owners who share the same enthusiasm, is like a dream come true," says Leonardo Ferragamo, Nautor Group President.
The 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) and the Real Federación Española de Vela (RFEV), with the sponsorship of MAPFRE, the institutional support of the Balearic Islands Government, the City Hall of Palma, the Balearic Islands Port Authority and the Balearic Sailing Federation.