22 Apr SWAN TUSCANY CHALLENGE WINNERS ARE G SPOT IN THE CLUBSWAN 36 AND PERHONEN IN THE CLUBSWAN 50 CLASS

• Intense showdown anticipated on final day of racing of The Nations League opening event in Marina di Scarlino, Tuscany
• Four days of great racing on the water and glamorous social events ashore
• The ClubSwan Academy becomes reality with DutchSail and Yacht Club Italiano teams racing among the ClubSwan 36 fleet
• Up next in the Nations League are the Swan Bonifacio Challenge and the Swan Sardinia Challenge in Alghero

The Swan Tuscany Challenge closed today after four days of intense racing under different sailing conditions and ample social gatherings in true ClubSwan Racing style. The last day of the competition saw excellent weather with a South-westerly wind blowing between 8 and 10 knots delighting the twenty teams ClubSwan 36 and ClubSwan 50 fleets as they sailed their final race. Marina di Scarlino delivered once again a beautiful setting both on and off the water.

Sunday April 21st opened with real anticipation in the ClubSwan 36 Class where the competition remained fierce after five races. G Spot, despite an unlucky first race (7), managed to soar to the top of the leaderboard once the discard came into play, although tied on points with Black Battalion and Cuordileone. The first race today (sixth overall) saw an unexpected wind shift of 20 degrees to the right, that forced the abandonment of the initial start, prompting a restart to ensure fair competition. Black Battalion took the lead, but only temporarily as in the seventh and final race G Spot scored their third bullet of the week, followed by Edoardo Pavesio’s Fra Martina who claims third overall for a nice opening of the season.

Swan Tuscany Challenge ClubSwan 36:

1. G Spot – Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio (MON)
2. Black Battalion – Black Battalion (HUN)
3. Fra Martina – Edoardo Pavesio (ITA)

In the ClubSwan 50 Class yesterday’s leader, Perhonen, had a promising start in the today’s first race with a second, but risked throwing their great week away with their worst result so far in the fifth and final race. Django with tactician Vasco Vascotto was breathing down their neck, but they needed a win in the last race to claim the Swan Tuscany Challenge. They only managed a second position that made them finish tight on points with Perhonen, this week’s winner thanks to two bullets in five races. In third position Stella Maris from Austria.

Swan Tuscany Challenge ClubSwan 50:

1. Perhonen – Ross Warburton (GBR)
2. Django – Giovanni Lombardi (GBR)
3. Stella Maris – August Schram (AUT)

“We are thrilled to kick off The Nations League here at the home of Nautor Swan in Marina di Scarlino,” commented Giovanni Pomati, Nautor Group CEO. “And what a fantastic start we’ve had, with ideal racing conditions for our twenty teams. We are especially proud to launch the ‘ClubSwan Academy,’ a pioneering pilot project developed in collaboration with Yacht Club Italiano and DutchSail – Royal Netherlands Yacht Club. This initiative aims to empower young sailors to pursue their dreams and conquer the seas aboard the ClubSwan 36, competing as part of the class within the Swan One Design family. Last night, at the season’s opening party, everyone was thrilled to welcome younger sailors into the fleet, introducing fresh faces and lowering the average age of owners and athletes.”

The Nations League 2024 event comes to an end with a great prize giving ceremony at Yacht Club Isole di Toscana with the daily winners presented by B&G and C-Map, and the lights are starting to shine on the next events, two of which are new exciting locations the Swan Bonifacio Challenge (May 28 to June 01) in this picturesque Corsican gem and Alghero in the North of Sardinia. Set against the breath-taking backdrop of the namesake strait, where nature takes center stage, the regattas are poised to unfold in this stunning, natural amphitheatre, where conditions can be real fun.

“It’s a great honour to host, in our natural harbour, such a high-level fleet, made of outstanding owners and a veritable parterre-de-roi in terms of sailors. It is a dream we cannot wait to see come true.” Said Michel Mallaroni, Director of Bonifacio Marina and president of Yacht Club Bonifacio.

“The opening of the season is always a very emotional time of the year”, said Federico Michetti, Head of Sport Activities at Nautor Swan. “You get to see the established teams, meet the new ones joining the fleets, and we are proud and honoured to have partners that confirmed their trust in the Nations League year after year, like Rolex, Randstad, Porsche Italia and Banor, and a new one joining in like Henri Lloyd. At the Nations League event, we cherish the competitive spirit on the water and the camaraderie ashore, both on the docks and at the parties. We hosted the highly regarded Season Opening Party, during which Gottifredi Maffioli presented the daily awards, and the daily prize-giving ceremonies were sponsored by Quantum Sails, B&G and Garmin. Garmin also organized the Garmin Speed Challenge, a competition among our sailors on exercise bikes at the race village, won by team Django, thanks to their bowman Matteo Ramian, a talented cyclist and sailor”.