Turku Archipelago, Finland: Swan 45 Aurora (winner of ORC1 Class) and Swan 37 Tarantella II (winner of ORC2 Class) came away with the Swan European Trophy at the Swan European Regatta 2021 over the weekend.
More than 40 Swans (representing the entire history of the Finnish yard), participated in the event.
The oldest Swan participating in the regatta has been no other than the very first Swan ever built – Swan 36 – Tarantella. She performed very well placing third overall.
The newest Swan in the regatta was Chablis, Swan 48-005 built in 2019.
The regatta was a real representation of the milestones of the brand with 19 Swans designed by Sparkman & Stephens, 19 by Germán Frers and 6 by Ron Holland.
While the smallest Swan participating was Tarantella, the biggest unit was Blue Magic from Sweden, an iconic Swan 65, Sparkman & Stephens design.
The challenging conditions of the Baltic embraced the Swan fleet from the first race providing all participants with great fun, tricky wind shifts and beautiful scenery – demonstrating the beauty and variability of these waters.
Daily varied courses permitted the attending teams to enjoy the beauty of the Turku Archipelago. The location also offered constant opportunities for strategic calls for crews to use the coastline in order to gain advantage over their competitors.
Joint winner of the Swan European Trophy, Tuomo Siitonen, skipper of AURORA said, “The racing days were sailing at its best. The weather was suitably challenging for our crew, some of who were onboard AURORA for the first time. It was also interesting to compete for superiority with our sister yacht KATIMA which placed second after us.”
Leif Ramm-Schmidt, skipper of Tarantella II said, “The organisers succeeded in creating wonderful and challenging courses for each day but for us the third day hit the bullseye. I have sailed this yacht for over fifty years so I know her well. I am particularly proud that this time already the fourth generation of our family joined in.”
The Swan European Regatta was not only a matter of racing, but also of timeless beauty and seaworthiness.
A special prize was awarded to the best-maintained Swan which went to Swan 46 Matangi (owned by German Christophe Michalski), directly from the hands of Anders Byggmastar, Customer Care, Quality and Commissioning Manager at Nautor’s Swan.
The best-presented boat was instead Swan 40 Berla S, perfectly kept and cared for by her passionate owner, Pekka Kuusniemi, while the Best Placed Sparkman & Stephens award went to Swan 37 Tarantella II.
Antti Kirkkola, Director of Major Events, city of Turku, said, “It has been a great maritime week in the heart of the city of Turku. The Swan European Regatta started our maritime summer and fulfilled all our expectations.”
– Nautor’s Swan
