Paul Winkelmann’s Swan 60 Island Fling won the S.Pellegrino Race Day, the first day of racing for the 54-strong Swan fleet at the 2003 Swan European Regatta in Cowes yesterday.

Winkelmann and his crew sailed away from the fleet at the beginning of the race to take line honours, Class honours and overall winner of the day on corrected time.

A forecast Force 4-5 with a clear blue sky enabled the Swan European Regatta to get underway in perfect conditions for some great racing. With the fleet split into two classes, according to Nautor’s own rating system, racing commenced under two starts with the larger boats in class A and the smaller boats in Class B. A 25-mile course for Class A and a 20 mile course for Class B was laid out, testing the crews ability to cope with the emerging tides and numerous obstacles that the Solent provides.

Damon Guizot’s Swan 53, Katrina crossed the start line first in Class A, but was almost immediately overtaken by Island Fling who showed all the experience and finesse gained after many years of competitive sailing. It became clear from the start that Island Fling was going to be hard to catch up, as the Swan 45s closed ranks behind and sailed almost in formation towards to the first mark. Island Fling rounded the mark 10 minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet, who were battling with the strong tide on approach. Flilp Balcaen’s Swan 56, Aqua Equinox, which has Nautor Challenge crew member Boewe Bekking on board, rounded the mark closely and just ahead of the Swan 45 pack and Ed Leask’s Swan 56 Magical. The gap increased between Island Fling and eventual second placed Aqua Equinox, resulting in a 15-minute lead around the third and final mark and an impressive finish some way ahead of the fleet.

In Class B, Stephen James’ hugely successful Swan 48 Jacobite recovered well from the general recall at the start, due to the majority of the fleet crossing the line ahead of the gun, to take the lead. As with Class A, tides played a major role and forced the fleet to take a line close to the mainland resulting in some clever tactics to get them around the first mark without being pushed onto it. Again Jacobite took the lead, closely followed by two Swan 44s Menenes and Saga, both of which achieved second and third place respectively in the small boat class in 2001. Jacobite managed to increase the lead to guarantee first place in the class.

Ben James, co-owner with his father, highlighted the importance of being at the top: “To win we have to be first around the course due to our rating but it was still good close racing. We made half a mistake and Menenes looked like they had it on us and then they would make a mistake and we got it back again!

“But I think that the best way to win a regatta like this is to keep trying to get a podium position – you don’t have to win every day but you have to be in the frame every day. This is exactly what we intend to do.” He added

The S.Pellegrino Race Day Prizegiving was held in the Regatta Bar in Cowes Yacht Haven, with trophies presented to the podium positions for both classes by Nautor’s Sales Director Mr Tom Blomgren and to the overall winner of the day, by S. Pellegrino UK Director, Mr Bill Dick.

Results

Overall

1 Island Fling, Paul F. Winkelmann Swan 60 GBR

2 Aqua Equinox, Filip Balcaen Swan 56 BEL

3 Desperado, Richard Loftus Swan 65 GBR

4 Crackerjack, Keith Miller Swan 45 GBR

5 WISC, Glynn Williams Swan 45 GBR

Class A

1 Island Fling, Paul F. Winkelmann Swan 60 GBR

2 Aqua Equinox, Filip Balcaen Swan 56 BEL

3 Desperado, Richard Loftus Swan 65 GBR

4 Crackerjack, Keith Miller Swan 45 GBR

5 WISC, Glynn Williams Swan 45 GBR

Class B

1. Jacobite, Stephen & Ben James Swan 48 GBR

2 Menenes, Libby & Graham Deegan Swan 441 GBR

3 Saga, Alain Foulquier Swan 44 FRA

4 Flying Neleb, Frederico Garcia-German Swan 39 ESP

5 Xaossa, Jean-Michel Carpentier Swan 42 FRA