The Nations League - Swan One Design Worlds in Porto Cervo - Day 3
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 20 Jun 12:03 PDT
18-21 June 2025
Earlybird leads the provisional classification in the ClubSwan 50 class heading into the final day - The Nations League - Swan One Design Worlds © ClubSwan Racing / Studio Borlenghi
The Mistral arrived in Porto Cervo as forecast today, and starting procedures began on schedule at 1 p.m. on both race courses. From an initial 10 knots, the wind built to reach 18 knots during the second race of the day, shifting progressively to the left.
All classes completed two windward-leeward races, with the exception of the ClubSwan 28s, which completed three races as per the schedule for the new class, competing here for their first Gold Cup. Racing concludes tomorrow, Saturday 21 June, with the final day of The Nations League - Swan One Design Worlds, when titles will be awarded across the four competing classes.
With a discard coming into play after five races, all classes have now been able to jettison their worst result.
Two wins today allowed Earlybird to consolidate their lead in the ClubSwan 50 class with a total score of just 7 points. Moonlight (3-3) is currently sitting in second on 14 points, with Cuordileone and Perhonen following closely on 17 points. Manu Weiller, tactician on Earlybird: "It was a great day here in Porto Cervo, we had 10 to 18 knots of Mistral towards the end, spectacular conditions. We had good starts in both races, sailing in the middle of the race course free from any dirty air, and managing to bring home two bullets. The secret to winning is always the same: get a good start and get the boat to go at its fastest. We did that particularly well today."
The Mistral brought out the best in the ClubSwan 36s, with some spectacular planing on display on the downwind legs. The top performer of the day, with a second and a first, was Goddess, but the Brazilian team on Mamao still reigns in the overall provisional classification after posting a sixth, which they were able to discard, and a second today. Fra Martina (7 - 5) sits in second in the provisional overall standings, seven points behind the leader, followed by G Spot (1 - 4) in third. David Chapman, tactician on Goddess: "The weather conditions today were perfect with a Mistral wind slowly building. It was a typical Porto Cervo sailing day where the left side of the course was generally quite favoured, so we started on the pin and made our way over there. Porto Cervo is a very special place for me, I have to say it's my favourite place in the world to come back to race, I just love it here."
Scoring is close in the ClubSwan 42 class, where Spain's Pez de Abril has taken the lead in the provisional classification thanks to two wins today. Nadir (6-2) is hot on their heels, just one point behind, as is Canopo, just two points behind the provisional leader.
The ClubSwan 28 class also saw extremely hard-fought racing, dominated by Marcello, which notched up a hat-trick of victories in all three races held today. The boat owned by YCCS member Philippe Ligot therefore moves into second place in the provisional classification, just 2 points off class leader Swing (2-2-2), and followed by Black Swan (4-5-3) and Play Bigger (3-4-6) on equal points. Stefano Cherin, Marcello's tactician: "Today was great, with three wins out of three, with such a strong fleet this is an important result for us. We're really happy, the weather conditions were perfect with the Mistral, and the location is wonderful, we love racing here."
Tonight the Owner's Dinner will take place on the panoramic terrace at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
The first starting signal is scheduled for 12 noon tomorrow, with a light Mistral of around 10 knots forecast for the final day of racing.
For further information,results, entry list, official documents, programme and photos please visit the YCCS website.