by Jennifer Hall and Cailah Leask
The first event on the new Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit concluded on Sunday, after four days of racing off the coast of Scheveningen in the Netherlands at the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. Taking part in a total of eight windward leeward races, Swan 60 Bronenosec claimed victory in the Gazprom Swan 60 Class.
On their win, tactician Tommaso Chieffi commented: “It was good to participate in such an important regatta here in Holland. It was a good start to the season, a perfect occasion to train the new guys in the team. The week we have faced a range of sailing conditions. The team onboard Swan 60 SGM also improved each day; for them it is the first time on the boat all together so I am sure as the season progresses they will get better and give us more competition.
This has been a very well organised regatta, you can tell that the yachtsmen from this part of the world really enjoy it. Looking ahead to the rest of the circuit, we will mainly have the same crew except when we go to the UK for Round the Island Race and the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship, where we will have UK sailor Adrian Stead joining us. He has the local knowledge which we need.”
Reflecting on the German Offshore Challenger team onboard Swan 60 SGM, Skipper Tim Kroger commented: “In the end it all worked out well; looking at where we came from with this group, we have come a long way. We trained them all up in four days and they have definitely fulfilled our expectations during this regatta. In the conditions we had, everything worked really well, it was quite a cool concept and everyone has enjoyed themselves. The crew progressed each day, at the beginning they had a steep learning curve but there was no drama and all in all it was successful. In some situations we were close to Swan 60 Bronenosec and even ahead of them, this was a great morale boost for the crew and it showed them that they had the ability to take the lead.
For the rest of the Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit I will be back onboard Swan 60 Spirit of Europe, which I raced in the Nord Stream Race. I am looking forward to the World Championship in the summer where we will have some British crew onboard.”
The next event on the Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit is the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship in Cowes, UK from13-19 July, during the Gazprom Swan European Regatta. This is followed by the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week in August and the Circuit will conclude with the Nord Stream Race in September in the Baltic Sea.
Nautor's Swan
