Copa del Rey: Two Kings against three German Skippers
Royal amusement. Club Swan 50 on the upwind. At the Copa del Rey the Club Swan 50 trumps with 14 bigs yachts at the start. For the first time King Harald from Norway competes against Spain’s King Felipe VI. World champion Heidenreich has them under control so far. While the TP52 class, with only seven yachts on the starting line, is experiencing tougher times, the competing Club Swan 50 is still on a high. This shows the Copa del Rey which is currently taking place in Mallorca. 14 ships in this price class of just over a million euros does not come together every day.
In addition to the attractiveness of the new One Design class, two Blue Bloods have now declared it a personal piece of sports equipment. So the 82-year-old King Harald V surprised with his presence in Mallorca, where he arrived with his “Norge” to contest the Copa del Rey with “Fram XVIII”. Last year the Norwegian caused a sensation with his start at the 8mR World Championship at Lake Constance, now he is standing at the wheel of one of the most modern standard yachts in the world and seems to be having a great time.
Kings among themselves. He meets his Spanish colleague King Felipe VI, who drives the course with his “Armada Espanola” and thus continues the story of his father Juan Carlos. He sailed regularly with his Bribon yachts in the big international regattas and was a constant in the TP52 series in particular. After four runs Felipe is in eighth place, Harald in tenth. Leonardo Ferragamo, the Italian, who took over the Swan shipyard as majority owner in 1998 and steered it back on a successful course, has dominated the field so far. He apparently succeeds very well on the race track. Because he and his Cuordileone team are confidently holding their own at the top.
From a German point of view, Stefan Heidenreich and his One Team are closest to third place. On the weekend he had left the J/70-IDM in Travemünde after a crash with serious damage through no fault of one’s own. Now his young World Champion team including Jochen Schümann is again delivering top performances on the big boat. The fact that the air is getting thinner at the top is shown by the apparently successful fast entry of Italian Andrea Lacorte, who is in second place after four races. He left the new, weak Melges 40 class and changed to Club Swan 50. His experienced team, which already sailed Melges 32, makes it possible for him to take top places with the swan right from the start.
The Club Swan 50 has up to 13 sailors on board, depending on the total weight. The rules stipulate that the owner steers and a maximum of five professionals may be on board. Austrian August Schramm also sails strongly to fifth place in his second season. Hendrik Brandis with his “Earlybird” in sixth place is well in the race, Sönke Meier-Sawatzki from Kiel does not yet get going as usual with “Niramo” in 11th place. In the field of the eleven Club Swan 42 Pit Finis from Düsseldorf with his “Dralion” is well in the race in second place.
Results: Copa del Rey 2019 Club Swan 50
Source: Segelreporter
Picture: Mallorca Magazin
