Sparkman & Stephens’ Swans invade Elba and it’s showtime

The 7th edition of the S&S SWAN RENDEZ-VOUS prestigious event organized by the Circolo della Vela Marciana Marina and reserved for Swans-the famous Finnish “Swans” of the Nautor shipyard-designed by New York designers Sparkman & Stephens in the years between 1966 and 1978 has concluded. Twenty-four boats from Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Italy, South Africa, USA and Switzerland divided into two groups: Over and Under 47 feet in length.

RESULTS.
The overall ranking is the preserve of Sehkraft (pictured) ahead of Lolita. Third was the Swan 44 Solano of French shipowner Cesar Chuffart. The ranking of smaller boats (Under 47) sees the trio consisting of Sehkraft, Solano and Vittorio Ghizzoni’s Kokkola (Swan 43) leading the way. The Over 47 ranking is led by Lolita ahead of the Swan 47 Black Tie and the other Swan 47 Vanessa, of Italian owners Giulia and Matteo Salamon, the latter president of the S&S Swan Association and a passionate organizer of the international event.

SPECIAL AWARDS.
In the evening leading up to the final day, during a gala dinner hosted by Toremar at Hotel Il Magnifico, a number of valuable challenge trophies were presented: the ZEPPELIN TROPHY reserved for the best-preserved and most elegant boat and chosen by the jury composed of Nicola Sironi and Lorenzo Loik, two prominent figures in the world of international sailing, went this year to the Swan 65 ketch JOIE DE VIVRE of Brazilian owner Riccardo Diomelli. The same boat also received an original drawing by artist Luca Ferron as a prize. In second and third place respectively in these special rankings were awarded UN AMOUR DE SWAN, Giandomenico Iannetti’s Swan 44 and KOKKOLA. The Spirit of Swan prize offered by Nautor was awarded to Danish owner Niels Bjorn Rasmussen’s Swan 44 FOUR WINDS (his 6-month-old twins were also on the crew!), while the sportsmanship award went in a tie to Matteo d’Agostino and Solano’s GRAMPUS Swan 47 boats, which had arrived in Elba with a reduced crew due to a last-minute crew forfeit. Other special prizes were presented during the awards ceremony at the CVMM headquarters upon returning from the sea after the final race: Sehkarft was awarded the ROD & OLIN STEPHENS ROYAL THAMES YACHT CLUB CHALLENGE TROPHY for her result in the classic overall on corrected time; Lolita was awarded the 2015 MARELBA TROPHY for her line honors in the first race; SEHKAFT was also awarded an elegant catwalk raffled off by Carboway; Lolita was awarded the beautiful Swan 47 model crafted with extraordinary skill by artist Luca Ferron.