Swan 45 Class Racing Circuits: 2012 Preview

11 January 2012

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Nautor’s Swan conceived its one design classes to satisfy the most experienced sailors in both racing and cruising. Nautor’s most successful racing model, the Swan 45 offers challenging one-design racing for the discerning owner. For 2012 there will once again be two dedicated Europe based circuits for the Swan 45 fleet. The Swan 45 Class Circuit’s for the year will once again be focused around the geographic spread of the fleet and based in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

For those based in the Mediterranean, the opportunity to enjoy close racing at regional level will be available in preparation for the annual Swan 45 World Championships. The Med Circuit will begin with the Trofeo Carlo Negri – Regate Pirelli in Santa Margherita from 28th April to 1st May. The Giraglia Rolex Cup in June will be next in the programme. The Giraglia Rolex Cup is established as one of the classic regattas of the Mediterranean and for the past 58 years has lent its name and served as the turn mark to the largest offshore race in the Mediterranean. This event will be followed by Copa del Rey, Palma from 16th – 21st July.

The main feature of the calendar will be the Swan 45 World Championship which will again take place during Rolex Swan Cup which will reach its 17th edition from 10 – 16 September 2012. Once more Porto Cervo, Sardinia will become the centre of the Nautor’s Swan community with upwards of 100 Swan yachts competing in the waters off the Sardinian coast. A draw for top sailors and amateurs alike, the Rolex Swan Cup provides a spirited week of racing and gala social events for which Rolex and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda are renowned.

The Swan 45 Class Circuit will then culminate at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez in the first week of October.

The Swan 45 Northern Europe Circuit will start in May in the Netherlands with the North Sea Regatta. The Swan 45 contingent will accompany more than 500 boats in the inshore races along the Scheveningen coast. The second stop on the Circuit will be the 130 year-old Kieler Woche regatta which coincides with the biggest summer festival in northern Europe. In the last week of June, more than three million people from 70 countries will visit Kiel as it puts its best foot forward with a unique mix of cultural, musical, political and social highlights. The last event on the Swan 45 Northern Europe Circuit will be the Breskens Sailing Weekend the last weekend of August.

Both Circuit Champions from 2011 will return to defend their achievements – Luca Locatelli with his Swan 45 Thetis in the Mediterranean and the Swan 45 Samantaga, owned by Philippe Moortgat and Patrick van Heurck. Earlybird, the German Swan 45 shared by Hendrik Brandis and Christian Nagel will also return to defend their World Championship secured in Porto Cervo in September 2010.

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