Small Boat Fleet Dominate On Third Day Of Swan American Regatta
31 July 2003

In a change of fortunes, Class B dominated the ClubSwan Race Day by taking seven of the top placings in the overall fleet results for the day. It was Martin Jacobson’s Swan 44 Crescendo that eventually won the day by winning a solid ten minutes ahead of his next competitor, Swan 44 Lightwave, owned by David Ford.

Today saw the 50 strong Swan fleet test their skills on the long race day. All three classes were given a different course ranging from 51.7 nm for Class A to 25 nm for Class C, taking them from Newport Harbour out to the Rhode Island Sound and into the Atlantic Ocean. With variable conditions ranging from 14 knots at the start to light and fluky winds after a full day’s racing, the fleet were exposed to a completely different format compared to the standard windward/leeward of the past two days.

“This is our fourth Swan event, but it was the first time we have won first in fleet – it is very exciting for us,“ said Martin Jacobson, on his great result today.

He continued: “We formulated a strategy ahead of time and it all went according to plan. Our overall strategy was to try to stay offshore on the upwind leg, because we thought there would be more wind – and there was.”

Tactician, Peter Stalkus commented on how they won the race and fought off the pack of Swan 44’s: “We were the fourth boat in our class coming around Point Judith, the first mark, and we figured we had our time corrected on about 80% of the fleet. We tried to stay clean of the Swan 48’s and Swan 51’s to concentrate on our main rivals, the Swan 44’s. We put away Lightwave and Reef Points in the first five miles.”

Going into the entrance of Newport Harbor and approaching the finish off Fort Adams, State Park, Stalkus explained that although Celerity a Swan 48 owned by Stuart Robinson, and Affinity a Swan 48 owned by Jack Desmond, were ahead of them, they managed to keep off Sky a Swan 53 owned by Jim Reiher, by putting up an asymmetrical spinnaker and the playing the tides along the shore.

In Class A, the Swan 45’s were given a run for their money with the longer course favouring the larger boats. Although Roel Piper’s Swan 80 Favonius, claimed line honours, the overall Class results were awarded to Willem Mesdag’s Swan 62 Constanter, making her debut on the leaderboard during this regatta. In second place was seasoned Swan owner Clay Deutsch on his Swan 68 Chippewa, with 2001 Swan American Regatta Champion Swan 56 Lolita, owned by Frank Savage taking a close third.

Class C made use of their shorter course to reach the dock well ahead of the rest of the fleet, with Dr. Charles Engh’s Swan 68 Y2K, taking not only line honours, but also honours for the class. In second place was Robert Jellen’s year old Swan 50 Ciao Bella, gaining a great result for Jellen’s first ever Swan regatta.

The ClubSwan Race Day Prizegiving was held in the Regatta Bar in Newport Yachting Center, with trophies presented to the podium positions for the three classes by Nautor Finland’s Tom Blomgren, Sales Director and Ingmar Granholm Senior Sales Manager and to the overall winner of the day by Enrico Chieffi, Sales and Marketing Director of the Nautor Group.

Tomorrow will be the Brown Advisory Race Day, with the fleet fighting for points on two windward/leeward races. Racing will begin at 11.00 am. After racing, crews will be able to enjoy the usual S.Pellegrino Hospitality and Happy Hour in the Regatta Bar.

The Swan American Regatta forms part of the world renowned Nautor’s Swan Racing Calendar which spans the globe with events specifically designed to provide Swan owners with the excitement of competitive racing and a range of social events that are second to none.

Provisional Results:

Overall Results for the Day:
(calculated by combining the scores for both A & B)
1. Crescendo Martin Jacobson Swan 44 USA
2. Lightwave David Ford Swan 44 USA
3. Vixen John Wayt Swan 44 USA
4. Galadriel John Santa Swan 46 USA
5. Aura Bill Kardash Swan 44 USA

Class A
1. Constanter Willem Mesdaq Swan 62 USA
2. Chippewa Clay Deutsch Swan 68 USA
3. Lolita Frank Savage Swan 56 USA
4. VIM Craig Speck Swan 45 USA
5. Nova Mark Distefano Swan 56 USA

Class B
1. Crescendo Martin Jacobson Swan 44 USA
2. Lightwave David Ford Swan 44 USA
3. Vixen John Wayt Swan 44 USA
4. Galadriel John Santa Swan 46 USA
5. Aura Bill Kardasch Swan 44 USA

Class C
1. Y2K Dr. Charles Engh Swan 68 USA
2. Ciao Bella Robert Jellen Swan 60 USA
3. Alianza Bruce Cleveland Swan 56 USA
4. Clover III Neal Finnegan Swan 56 USA
5. Dire Wolf Thomas Little Swan 44 USA

... Official site Swan American Regatta 2003