- Cuordileone, G Spot and Mela are the 2023 one-design World Champions
- Swiss flagged Swan 48 Anya wins first ever Swan Med Regatta-The Tuscany Challenge
- Italy finish top of The Nations League
Close and competitive racing down to the wire was the hallmark of the Swan One Design Worlds and the first ever Swan Med Regatta-The Tuscany Challenge as the 2023 ClubSwan Racing season concluded in dramatic fashion today.
Scarlino and the magnificent Tuscan coastline was the setting for the finale which saw the Swan One Design and Rating fleets racing simultaneously and sharing a base in the impressive Marina di Scarlino, which also hosted the immersive Nautor Swan Experience throughout the week.
With sailors from 25 countries racing aboard the 36 yachts competing across the fleets, it was also appropriate that The Nations League 2023 was to be decided in these sparkling Tuscan waters following a season long contest that began in Croatia back in April.
It was indicative of the level of competition in Scarlino that three of the four one-design classes went into the final race with the leaders tied on points.
In the always closely contested ClubSwan 36 class Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio’s G Spot (MON) edged ahead of Lorenzo Mondo’s Far Star (ITA) overall in a highly tactical final race. Edoardo and Vanni Pavesio’s Fra Martina (ITA) took her second win of the regatta in the same race — the only yacht in class to earn two bullets — to secure the last place on the podium.
Similarly, the ClubSwan 42 class was ultimately decided by a single point with Andrea Rossi’s Mela (ITA) edging in front of Adriano Majolino’s Canopo (ITA), as was the Swan 45 contest with Luca Locatelli’s Thetis (ITA) just ahead of Claudio Terrieri’s Blue Sky (ITA).
The exception to those nail-biting play-offs was Leonardo Ferragamo’s ClubSwan 50 Cuordileone (ITA), which flew out of the blocks in defence of its World title won in Valencia last year with back-to-back race victories on the first day.
With top-three results in every other race Cuordileone had secured the 2023 title with a race to spare, a full 16 points clear of Raquel and Graeme Peterson’s Moonlight (MON) who took the runner-up spot by a point from Marcus Brennecke’s Hatari.
Cuordileone’s performance, along with Far Star, saw Italy top the Best Placed Nation table in Scarlino, and also finish ahead of Germany in the overall Nations League 2023 standings, with Monaco taking third place.
