Given that Olin Stephens retired in 1979, to have 16 of his designs racing in the 2021 Fastnet is quite an achievement. There is a good collection of Nautor’s Swans with 2 classic 65’s racing; DESPERADO hull no. 24 from 1977 which races regularly and HARDSHIP III hull no. 10 with her attractive navy blue topsides.
Ben Morris’ Swan 55 yawl LULOTTE hull no. 14 which won the Sparkman & Stephens Fastnet trophy 2019. Two Swan 48’s, SNOW WOLF hull no. 38 and DANTES hull no. 43 are racing, these boats have a great track record with the design winning the Bermuda Race twice and also the Rolex Swan Cup. One Swan 44, ITHAKA, which was a top Admiral's Cup boat when they were launched. REINDEER the Swan 43 made famous by E. Newbold Smith in his book ‘Down Denmark Strait’ and who regularly competes in the Fastnet. Interestingly an early 43 called Whirlwind was owned by the founder of MFI furniture. Moving down in size of the Swan range there is the 411, KISWALA hull no. 12 a later version of the Swan 41 with a taller rig and deeper keel. The smallest Swans racing are two 38’s, XARA hull no. 6 and TRUWEN hull no. 48. XARA has won many awards, but shocked the RORC fleet earlier this year by winning the De Guingand Bowl Race race outright.
Ben Morris' S&S Yawl LULOTTE the winner of the Sparkman & Stephens Trophy in the 2019 Rolex Fastnet Race © Kurt Arrigo/Rolex
Looking at the S&S designs which aren’t Swans there is REFANUT the 63-foot yawl from Sweden which has been in one family since her build in 1955, Hiroshi Nakajima in his S&S 49 HIRO MARU ex. SCARAMOUCHE the 49-foot aluminium racer is now out to claim their rightful place near the front after getting a penalty in 2019 for just entering (accidentally) one of the TSS areas. HIRO MARU is crewed by a very experienced US team. There are two S&S 41’s, which was the size of the most successful MORNING CLOUD and WINSOME, built originally for the owner of Berthon and sailed by Harry Heijst from SevenStar Yacht Transport and a regular in offshore racing. The other 41 is EASY GLIDER built from mahogany. Last but not least is the beautifully restored and optimised S&S 34 MORNING AFTER sailed by George Greenfield and Louis Clayton. This team have been having a very successful season in this boat so far.
We will be keeping a keen eye on these beautiful yachts next week, and look forward to announcing the 2021 Fastnet - Sparkman and Stephens Trophy
All these boats can be followed on the YB tracking system, ybtracking.com.
Gavin Howe - Association Chairman