PalmaVela: The close relationship between the RCNP and Nautor’s Swan

PalmaVela: The close relationship between the RCNP and Nautor’s Swan

PalmaVela: The close relationship between the RCNP and Nautor’s Swan

Sport

08/04/2018 - 15:26

The Real Club Náutico de Palma has become the indisputable European base for the fleet of  Nautor’s Swan one designs, and will this year host three of the four scoring events in the first edition of The Nations Trophy Mediterranean League, open to the ClubSwan 50, Swan 45 and ClubSwan 42 classes. The new circuit was launched at the Monaco Swan One Design Regatta (26-31st March) and will continue with Sail Racing PalmaVela (2nd-6th May), the Rolex Giraglia Inshore Races (9th-12th June) and the Copa del Rey MAPFRE (28th July - 4th August).
 
A taste for one designs
Sail Racing PalmaVela will include a total of seven one design classes, which clearly proves the RCNPs interest in real time competition. Three of the classes boast the brilliant swan insignia emblematic of the Finnish boatyard Nautor’s Swan, a reoccurring participant in the main events organised by Mallorca’s prime Yacht Club.
 
The Swan classes first participated in Sail Racing PalmaVela in 2016 with the Swan 45, which after several editions competing within the ORC fleets, finally formed their own category. Seven teams from five nationalities competed in five races, with final victory for Christian Plump’s German team Elena Nova, who have also confirmed their participation in this year’s event.
 
In 2017 the ClubSwan 50 was incorporated. The boat, created to commemorate the Boatyard’s fiftieth anniversary, chose Sail Racing PalmaVela for its European debut, having been officially presented to the world by the Real Club Náutico de Palma the previous summer at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE. Three boats took part in the class competition, with a total of eight races, finally won by Kielland Morten’s Swiss team Mathilde, who will return in May to defend their title. 
 
In its 15th consecutive edition, Sail Racing PalmaVelal adds the ClubSwan 42 class, to complete the trio of Swan One Designs, on display in the Bay of Palma in 2017, during the 36th Copa del Rey MAPFRE and The Nations Trophy.
 
“The Real Club Náutico de Palma is the ideal venue for Swan One Design events,”explains Leonardo Ferragamo, the executive chairman of Nautor’s Swan. “The Nations Trophy concept was launched in Palma last October, and proved to be a huge success, since the RCNP’s values mirror our own, and their organisation is exceptional. As such, we have not hesitated to include both PalmaVela and the Copa del Rey in the Mediterranean League.”
 
At the RCNP, the sports director Vivi Mainemare explains,
“It is a great pleasure for us to see that boat owners such as those sailing in the Swan fleet, choose to return again and again to the club. They have been competing for years here, in the club’s many different regattas, and particularly value having everything at hand. Their logistics are very simple, and they love the club just as much as they do, the bay and the city.”
 
Pre-registration for Sail Racing PalmaVela is currently confirming 15 Swan one designs, from seven nationalities; six ClubSwan 50, four Swan 45 and five ClubSwan 42. The boatyard has informed us that the three classes could well increase in the number of participants, and the final figure may well be closer to 20 participating teams. 
 
The teams confirmed to date include Luis Senís’ Porrón IX, the 2017 Swan 45 world champions and winners of the Monaco Swan One Design regatta, held last week; Pedro Vaquer's Nadir, European champions in 2017 in the ClubSwan 42; and Hendrik Bradis’ Earlybird, European champions in the ClubSwan 50 in 2017.
 
The sports programme for the three Swan One Design classes in Sail Raing PalmaVela will include a maximum of nine races, including at least two coastal races. 
 
The 15th Sail Racing PalmaVela is organised by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the Real Federacion Española de Vela (Spanish Sailing Federation), and is sponsored by Sail Racing, with the institutional backing of the Govern de les Illes Balears (Balearic Islands Regional Government) and the Ajuntament de Palma (Palma Town Hall), with the collaboration of the Federación Balear de Vela (Baleares Sailing Federation), the Club Náutic S´Arenal (S’Arenal Yacht Club) and the Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares (Baleares Port Authority).

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