Swan 45s battle it out in Capri

23 May 2008

Rolex Capri Sailing Week returned to some sense of normality today with blue skies, warm breeze and sunshine. On the racecourse the scene was a little different as the heat of the day seemingly affected one or two judgments. The breeze was 10 -13 knots for the early racing, but dropped during the day to sub-10 knots and, with plenty of shifts, gains and losses were there for the witting and unwitting. The Swan 45s had three good races that were not as straightforward as they could have been.

Amongst the event’s premiere one design fleet, there was the easy to anticipate cut and thrust. And, as is the way in one-design racing, consistency, consistency, consistency is the key to success – especially on a three-race day when one slip could drop you down the standings like a stone. Take Stefano Masi and Ulika. The third start was as tight and congested as the first two, and suffered a general recall just like the first race. Unlike the first race of the day when no one over anticipated the restart, five boats were over early this time and were consequently black-flagged putting them out of the race. More action and decisive reaction. One of those five was Ulika who added 20 points to her day’s 1,2 scoreline and this has probably dropped her out of contention for the overall prize.

By contrast, Vertigo and Marco Salvi had a less painful, but still an up and down day, scoring a 12,1,8 that leaves them top of the pile by two points from Glynn William’s WISC, who also posted a solid scoreline of 3,9,7. Williams was certainly not expecting to be in second place after racing, “we’re quite surprised how well we have done really. It was a harder day for us than yesterday when we had a cracking coastal race where we won the last leg back. We started with a good first race today with a third place and I think we are very quick downwind, which we saw that in all three races.”

Williams is an experienced campaigner in the Swan 45 Class, and is quick to recognise that one has to be on top of one’s game in all departments to do well, “tomorrow is another day with the possibility of three more races and with the prospect of lighter winds that seems to suit us. We go well in flat water and light airs. Where we’ve got to work tomorrow is starts. We’re not getting off the line with pace as we should do and we have done in the past.”

One Swan 45 that might not have thought they’d be in contention today after ending yesterday some 16 points off the pace is the German boat Earlybird. Hendrik Brandis and Christian Nagel’s crew proved the adage and with the best scoreline of the day – 5,3,2 – trended sufficiently well to put themselves in third overnight only five points behind Vertigo.

Tomorrow could be a tricky day for all concerned at Rolex Capri Sailing Week. The wind is forecast to go much lighter than today, but hopefully not so much to curtail the action at what has so far proved an absorbing event.

At the time of writing there are a number of protests outstanding that could affect the overall standings.

CURRENT PROVISIONAL STANDINGS

Place Boat Name Owner Nation, R1-R2-R3-R4-R5-Points

SWAN 45
1. VERTIGO Marco Salvi ITA, 1-2-12-1-8-24.00
2. WISC Glynn Williams GBR 6-1-3-9-7-26.00
3. EARLYBIRD H Brandis/C Nagel GeR 2-17-5-3-2-29.00