Another fantastic grade 1 win for Black Swan Racing after a hard fought week in Calpe, Spain. This is our third consecutive ISAF grade 1 victory after last years wins in Chicago and Berlin. It’s a big achievement for the team and marks a strong start to our year on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.

Following a difficult regatta the previous week in nearby Javea, where we failed to make the semi finals at the grade 2 event we knew it would be important to make a good start in Calpe. We managed this winning 8 from 9 races to top the round robin stage. We had some tight races which included some penalties but we managed to come out on top in most occasions, giving us confidence for the remainder of the event.

In the quarter final stage we raced fellow tour card holder Simone Ferrarese of Italy. In light conditions similar to what we encountered in the round robin, we took a 2-0 lead. Ferrarese won the third race, but after starting behind we pushed him the whole way. We re grouped in the 4th race and totally controlled the match to progress to the semi-final.

The semi-final series proved to be very tough against Josh Junior from New Zealand, winner of the 2012 Warren Jones Youth Regatta. Junior won the first race after a split from the start line. Unfortunately we lost a large margin from the split and were unable to get back into the match. We sailed much better in the second match, leading off the line and sailing around the course to level the series. It was nice to end the day 1-1 and go into the last day with a level chance of making the final.

The final day was marked with a big change from the lighter conditions of earlier in the event. Frontal winds up to 25 knots and large seas would prove to be another test of skill. We continued our semi-final against Junior with a win in the 3rd race. Our starts continued to be strong and we lead from start to finish in the strong conditions. The large waves made the down wind legs the most challenging especially against Junior, one of the worlds best young laser sailors. Big gains and losses were made by catching waves and finding more breeze. Another win would see us progress to the final, although we came off the start line behind in the next race we managed to sail a great last downwind and pass Junior near the finish. With around 50m to the line we looked to have the race won but Junior managed to catch the perfect wave, pushing him through the line ahead. Despite this disappointment we put together a fantastic 5th start leading off the line, making our choices around the course much easier. We kept our lead and progressed to the final.

Making it to another final was fantastic but there was still plenty of racing to go. Our opponent a familiar foe, Pierre Antoine Morvan of France had just come from 2-0 down to defeat fellow tour card holder Bjorn Hansen 3-2. Another epic final against the French followed. We races the first three races in lighter winds and big seas which was certainly difficult. We won the first but lost the second, in the third we won but were given a -.75 point deduction after hitting Morvan in a port and starboard tack incident. The umpires gave Morvan the penalty but judged we could have avoided the damage. At the time we felt making contact was the best way to get the penalty but we didn’t expect such a deduction. This put things back to almost level with scores of 1.25-1.

The wind was now back in at 18-22 knots. We won the next race to get closer to the title but then failed in the 5th race to close it out. Because of the -.75 deduction we had to sail a 6th deciding race. We came off the start behind but kept close enough to attack on the first downwind leg. We worked into a position to roll over Morvan with both boats engadging in a luffing duel. Both boats wiped out in the strong wind but we managed to release our spinnaker haliyard, causing contact with the French boat. They were judged to have not given us room to keep clear and penalised. We knew from this point we had to keep the race close but Morvan managed to eek out enough lead to complete his turn after the top mark. He came out right behind us but we managed to scrape ahead of the starboard tacker. This proved to be the decisive point as we set our spinnaker in better breeze and screamed down to the finish opening out a comfortable lead. A long long day for the team but a great win!

We now have sometime off before the first Alpari World Match Racing Tour event in Germany next month.

Probably my passport.

What are your three most-listened to songs?

Following a very successful 2011 we have received a tour card to compete on the World Match Racing Tour 2012. This has been our goal for sometime and to have reached this point is very exciting for the team. We will compete in 7 World Tour events, which include, Match Race Germany, Stena Match Cup Sweden, Chicago Match Race, Portugal Match Cup, St Mortiz Match Race, Match Race France and The Argo Group Bermuda Gold Cup before the World Tour final in Malaysia at the Monsoon Cup in December. We are all looking forward to a fantastic year on the tour and thank all our supporters for helping us to this point!

“With a fantastic learning curve during the last year, ending with some great results, it definitely feels like we are ready to face the best sailors on the 2012 World Match Racing Tour and make this a great year as well! “

Olof Lundgren Mainsheet/ Tactics

“I am thrilled and excited getting a tour card. We have worked hard for the last four years with one goal – get better! The tour card is a milestone in our program but the goal will remain – get better.  It is a recognition and we will continue to develop to meet the standard.”

Jakob Gustafsson,Trimmer

“To be on the World Match Racing Tour 2012 is very exciting and a great step forward for the team. It has long been our goal to hold a tour card and now we’ve achieved that. We had a very successful 2011 season and this is the reward for all our hard work. We are all focused on stepping up to this new challenge and I’m looking forward to a solid year ahead.”

Ricky McGarvie, Bowman

“I am very happy to be awarded a tour card for the 2012 World Match Racing Tour season. Most of all I am looking forward to the racing. The competition will be fierce but that’s what makes it worthwhile! I would like to thank my team for their great effort last year and in previous years and look forward to racing with them in the tour in 2012!

Keith Swinton, helmsman

Progressing to the quarterfinals with a round robin scorecard of 8 wins and 3 losses we defeated Pierre Antoine Morvan 3-2. In the semi-final we defeated Eric Monnin 2-1. This was followed by an epic final against Portugal’s Alvahro Marinho in which we came back from 2-1 down to snatch victory with some amazing races!

After our grade1 win in Chicago we were keen to back up with another solid result. The conditions on Lake Wannsee in Berlin were far different from those in Chicago. The racecourse could change within seconds making your lead extremely difficult to defend.

We began the event with a few hiccups, loosing a couple of straight races early in the regatta. Fortunately we learned  quickly from our mistakes getting back on track against last years winner Bjorn Hansen. This gave us some confidence and kick started a run of solid races for us. We finished the round robin with 8 wins -3 losses, ranking us in 2^nd place overall. Normally the first place from the round robin would choose their opponent and so on down the list, however in Berlin this was not that case. Our opponent for the quarterfinal would be 7^th placed in the round robin Pierre Antoine Morvan, probably one of the tougher opponents we could have chosen.

Morvan and his team were our final opponents in Chicago so we knew they would be out for revenge. This quarter finals series went down to the wire but we managed to come out on top winning 3-2. In the final and deciding race against Morvan we were both neck and neck at the top mark, for the last time. Morvan was right behind us and in a good position to overtake. This was one of the key moments of the regatta and we managed to keep our cool and defend this very narrow lead.

Having finished top after the round robin Eric Monnin of Switzerland decided to choose us for the semi-final. The Swiss team are very familiar with shifty lake sailing so we knew it was going to be a tough fight. We sailed really well in this series winning 2-1. The key was the starts, we managed to win 2 of the starts and although our lead was always under threat from the Swiss team we were able to choose our path around the course. By this point we knew that offense was the best defense and sailing our own race was very important.

We were thrilled to make another Grade 1 final but of course there was still plenty more racing ahead. Conditions were now even lighter than those we had raced in during the semi-finals. Our opponent Alvahro Marinho was sailing very well having defeated two-times winner Bjorn Hansen in the quarters and another previous winner Marcus Weisser in the semi-final.

In the first race we got off the line really well but after a couple small shifts we were neck and neck again. Half way up the first beat the boats came together in a dial down manoeuvre with us on starboard with right of way. There was a big collision, the Portuguese being given the penalty. From here we just had to keep close and despite trailing we closed the gap to just finish ahead whilst Marinho completed his penalty on the start line. Marinho sailed much better in races 2 and 3 and we had a couple of bad starts and also coped a couple of penalties. These penalties were our first for the regatta so we knew it was because of the pressure Marinho was putting on us. At this point we were on the brink of defeat.

Our start to race 4 was a disaster. Unfortunately conditions didn’t assist our port entry to the start area and we were on the back foot for the whole 4minute of pre-start time. We also were given another penalty for failing to keep clear when we were the windward boat. We came off the start line 30 meters behind with a penalty against us. Having seen how our lead could be eaten away in previous races we knew it wasn’t over. On the first down-wind leg we did a great job and snatched the lead. We fought hard up the second upwind leg to hold onto this lead whilst still trying to look for an opportunity to take our penalty turn.  We were only 1 meter ahead at the top mark not enough distance to compete a penalty turn. Our only option was to slow up and try to trap them into making a mistake, a very low percentage move in match racing. We did however draw on past experience here and managed to pull off an amazing move. We sailed Marinho down the left side of the course whilst keeping our starboard right of way advantage with both boats moving very slowly in 2-3 knots of winds. We had a couple of chances to take our penalty but didn’t quite get it right in our first luffing attempts but kept our speed and position enabling us to continue sailing Marinho off the course and away from the finish. Then our opportunity came and whilst Marinho was slow and in less wind we gybed towards the finish and picked up some good wind quickly establishing a 50 meter lead. We came in fast to the finish and completing our penalty turn around the finish line to snatch an incredible win.

From this point we had the momentum. We nailed the last start and managed to keep the lead but it wasn’t over yet. Marinho found some wind on the final up wind leg putting him right on our stern at the final top mark. We continued to sail offensively and gybed away from our opponent in what turned out to be a massive split between the boats. We managed to find a little more wind and a better angle into the finish line, taking the win by 20 meters. This was a massive win for the team our second grade 1 win in a row against a very tough field in very difficult sailing conditions.

Final Standings:

Following our victory in Chicago we traveled to Bermuda for the Bermuda Gold Cup 2011. This World Match Racing Tour event consists of 24 teams sailing in the unusual IOD yachts.

Because of the 24-team format this event is extremely cut throat with half the teams being knocked out following a 7 race qualifying stage. Our qualifying group consisted of Staffan Lindberg, Bjorn Hansen, Francesco Bruni, Jesper Radich, Blyth Walker, Jordan Reece and Jakub Pawluk.

We didn’t begin the regatta well, receiving a pre-start penalty following a small collision with Staffan Lindberg. This put is on the back foot but we managed to gain the lead off the start. From here we worked on extending our lead but couldn’t get enough to complete our penalty ahead. On the final leg we completed a nice move wiping off our penalty but Lindberg was able to slip by for the win.

Following this loss we had to race 3 of the top teams Jasper Radich, Bjorn Hansen and Francessco Bruni. Each and every one of these races was extremely close. We lead for 75% of the race against Radich but made a mistake at the top of the course before the final rounding mark and allowed Radich to pass. We also push Hansen and Bruni hard but unfortunately they were able to hold us off in both races. We needed to win at least one of these races but we came up short, a frustrating day putting us out of the regatta.

Despite the disappointment of these losses we came out focused to finish the regatta well. We did this, reeling off solid wins against the lower ranked teams of Pawluk, Reece and local Bermudian sailor Blythe Walker who is very fast in the IOD yachts.  It is always disappointing to be knocked out of an event early and this was no different especially after our good form in Chicago. We really believe if we had had got another win or two we really could have done very well later in this event. Now we put our focus towards the Berlin Match Race from the 2-6 November.

It was great to be back in Chicago again, this time for the ISAF grade 1 Chicago Cup.  The event was sailed in the heart of the Chicago CBD at the City’s Navy Pier on Lake Michigan.

We began the regatta finishing the round robin with 8 wins 3 losses, a solid score but having to work hard for the wins. The conditions inside Navy Pier Harbour were extremely tricky and it took us some time to get to grips with sailing in the area. Fortunately sailing in the Tom 28 boats we always felt comfortable and fast which certainly helped.  Our best win of the round came against world number 5 Pierre Antoine Morvan from France, a race which we lead until the last top mark rounding. At this point Morvan did a nice job overtaking but we put together a fast downwind finish to regain the lead and snatch the win.

Progressing to the quarterfinals we decided to pick Reuben Corbett from New Zealand. This was not as easy decision as all of the teams were highly ranked. Conditions for the quarters were very strong with Chicago living up to its reputation as the windy city. We did a really nice job in the quarters winning 3-0 against Corbett. We sailed fast and smooth building up a good feeling for our semi-final showdown against Phil Robertson (Waka Racing).

Going into the semi-final, confidence was high. Conditions were still very strong but this provided some close races and plenty of entertainment. We had four races against the kiwis with all 4 starts almost a carbon copy of each other. This worked in our favour as we took out the semifinals 3-1. Our only loss came in race 2; we lead the whole race with the kiwis hot on our heels. On the final down wind we sailed them past the finish line to hold onto our lead. Unfortunately as we gybed to the finish line with the spinnaker still up we lost control, both boats broaching out. This wasn’t such a major problem until we hit the finish line mark and were given a penalty, ending the race for us. All of this action just meters from Navy Pier! Despite this disappointment, we re-grouped and put together 2 more solid wins to progress to the final.

Our opponent for the final Morvan of France was a tough competitor, in form having won the last grade 1 event in Poland and finishing 2^nd at the St Moritz Match Race.

After taking out race 1 we were given a pre-start penalty in the second race. Taking the lead off the start line helped, as we pushed hard to gain a winning margin, in hope of completing our penalty later in the race. Fortunately this went to plan and we managed to complete our penalty on the finish line and finish just ahead of the French team.

At this point we only needed one more win to take out the event but the French had not given up. They came from behind in race 3 after we were given an immediate penalty for failing to give the French room to round the top mark. This kept the final alive however we were determined to finish it off. Race 4 was very close as we battled it out for control up the first windward beat. Would put fait into our own hands at the top of the course allowing the French to gain the starboard advantage at the top of the course, a potentially dangerous position however we managed to squeeze around their bow at the top mark. From here we sailed a great down wind leg and held our lead to set up a comfortable final leg sailing downwind at high speed to the finish. It was great to celebrate our first grade 1 win spraying champagne into the crown and accepting the Chicago Cup.

To watch video highlight from the final day visit our gallery section!

Early in the regatta we certainly struggled with the boats. Long, heavy and narrow the Diamant 4000 was extremely difficult to sail especially in the shifty conditions. Our main problem was getting off the start line, however after this were very competitive. We had some good races in the double round robin stage despite some poor starts. Our best race was our first against former Americas Cup sailor Karol Jablonski, in this race we won the start and controlled the race from that point. Following this point we had to scrap for our wins but finished the day 3 wins 4 losses.

On day 2 we started badly loosing three straight races, denting our confidence. However we managed to stem the tide and stringed together two wins at the end of the day including a come from behind win after a double penalty in the race against Simone Ferrarese of Itlay. Going into day 3 we still had a slim chance of making the quarters but results had to go our way. We did everything possible by winning our final three races but this wasn’t enough as our competitors failed to slip up.

It was pleasing to finish the regatta with some momentum and regain some confidence. Our next regatta is in Chicago, USA on one of our favourite boats the Tom 28, so we look forward to this! This event will be closely followed by the Bermuda Gold Cup WMRT event. Stay tuned.

We sailed a very competitive round robin series finishing with a score of 7 wins 4 losses. Conditions throughout the round robin were quite light making for some good tactical racing. We had good speed and managed to sail well with only a few major mistakes. This score card put us in 6th place after the round robin. Unfortunately we missed the top four on count back meaning we had to sail further races to obtain a position in the quarter finals. We were paired against Simone Ferrarese of Itlay in this sail off, the Italians actually finished 11th in the round robin but because of this format got another chance. So with more to loose than our competitor we took on the Italian team in light and shifty conditions. We did well to keep it together and prevailed 2-1 in trying conditions coming from behind twice and out sailing our competitor.

Progressing to the quarter-final stage we came up against local sailor Francais Morvan. The stronger wind conditions we hoped for still hadn’t arrived so it would be more light wind sailing in the quarter finals. We didn’t begin the quarter finals well loosing both of the opening matches putting us in a must win situation for the final races. We made some big improvements with our starts and despite coming off the line even or behind we managed to grind out 2 wins to level the score. We did some great work in both of these races pulling off some really nice overtaking moves and gaining a penalty against our opponent on one occasion. It call came down to the last race and with the momentum on our side we were confident. Morvan again managed a nice start and won the favoured right side of the course. We thought we were quicker off the line but when we met it was even, Morvan then did a nice job of protecting the right side. Despite being quicker we couldn’t pull off a passing moving, Morvan sailed a solid race and learnt from his mistakes from the previous races. We were pretty upset with loosing 3-2 especially after the comeback from 0-2 down. In de-brief we realised we didn’t put enough enphasis on winning the right side and this was the game in the end.

Despite the disappointment we continued to push hard and defeated both the New Zealand teams Will Tiller and Reuben Corbett in the 5-8th place races to secure 5th, another solid result but still not what we are looking for. We are sailing at a really high level so just have to take the opportunity when it comes, which can’t be far away!!!

We began the regatta well finishing day two with 4 wins 1 loss. We had some close battles scoring great wins over Phil Robertson (Waka Racing), Rasmus Viltof, Damien Iehl (French Match Racing Team) and Alvahro Marinho (Seth Sailing Team). This put us into 1st postion on the leaderboard which was a great feeling.

We took this momentum into our race against one of our biggest rivals Torvar Mirsky (The Wave Muscat Team). In light conditions we did well to get out of trouble after a port end entry. From here we managed to get an even start, heading out to the right. We slowly ground out an advantage rounding the top mark ahead. We did a great job on the downwind, extending the lead. At the bottom mark we decided to tack quickly after the rounding as were very confident in the right side of the race course. This however didn’t play out in our favour and Mirsky managed to take the lead from the left side of the course. From this point the race was no longer ours.

We went into day three looking for a chance to secure a position in the quarter finals. We began with a race against our training partner from before the event Johnie Berntsson (Berntsson Sailing Team). Unfotunaltey we were given a penalty after contact during the pre-start, but we managed to scramble a start and sail to a nice lead. We held this lead and went to complete our penalty on the finish line but lost some distance making a real mess of a fairly straight forward situation. We had some more misfortune against Peter Gilmour (Yanmar Racing). We made an excellent start and built a big lead by the top mark. On the downwind Gilmour picked up much more breeze and cut into our lead forcing us to try and sail him past the bottom mark. We didn’t to a great job of this loosing the lead and being given a penalty in the process, handing Gilmour the win. After two losses we managed to win our last race of the morning against World Tour leader Francesco Bruni (Bruni Racing). Doing a nice job of starting ahead and extending our lead throughout.

During the afternoon session the wind really picked up which was a real test for our team having limited preparation in the boats. We had some tough races against World Tour heavy weights Ian Williams (Team GAC Pindar) and Mathieu Richard (French Match Racing Team). We fought hard in both races but the experienced teams showed their class. Our final race of the day against Mathias Rahm (Stena Bulk Sailing Team) was also tough but we did a great start and got a penalty on Rahm. We did well to hold our lead in strong and shifty conditions to take the win. This progressed us to 6 wins one short of a guaranteed quarters berth.

On day 4 we had one more race to sail of the round robin series. An important race, with a win giving us a definite quarter final spot. We sailed against Jesper Radich (Adrian Lee & Partners Racing). The ex Americas cup skipper and now tour regular, Radich is a very tough competitor especially in the DS 37 yacht. We came off the start in a reasonable postion banking on a left side wind shift off the start. We did get this but just a little late as we were unable to cross Radich at the interesction. This made it difficult on a heavily biased course. We kept attacking hard and looked good to overtake at the top mark but unfortunately we couldn’t make it past the Danish skipper.

Finishing with 6 wins from the round robin with another 4 teams is was always going to come down to some luck of the tie and unfortunately this time it didn’t go our way. We are more disappointed with not converting more of our races into wins when we had the chance . However we feel we sailed well and many people took notice of our sailing throughout the week. We would like to thanks all of our supporters who cheered for us throughout the event, especially Mads Landind from our regatta sponsor Hardstaff AB. This made our week and we are so grateful for your support. We look forward to sailing in Marstrand again next year!

We are proud to announce Hardstaff AB as our title sponsor for Match Cup Sweden 2011. This is a exciting sponsorship between Hardstaff and Black Swan Racing will will be a major asset to the team prior, during and after the event.

The Hardstaff Group origins date back to 1861 when Hardstaff Haulage was founded in Nottingham by John Hardstaff.   The parent company now known as T. Baden Hardstaff Limited is still a transport company, and this is why we fully understand the transport industry and its demands.  The company expanded to form the Hardstaff Group by providing forward thinking and innovative solutions, which remains our philosophy today.  By operating road transport vehicles we are fully aware of their impact on the climate and environmental initiatives which reduce vehicle pollutants have always been on our agenda.

Our research and development of Methane Diesel Technology is a typical example of this. The electronic system reduces the amount of diesel injected into the cylinder of a diesel engine and replaces it with upgraded Biogas, significantly reducing the environmental impact. With similar drivability to that of a diesel engine this technology enables substitution rates of up to 70% of Diesel to Biogas, dependent upon duty cycle.  The main advantages of the system are the benefits for the environment by cutting CO2 emissions by up to 40% and the cost efficiencies for the end-user.

Our aim is to provide the best environmental combustion technology with a low climate impact on the environment. To keep the momentum, one of our key words is teamwork. With that in mind we are proud to support The Black Swan Racing Team in the Match Cup Sweden 2011. Strong teamwork and climate neutral power is what we represent and also what we have in common with the team of Black Swan Racing.

Mats Landin

General Manager

Hardstaff AB