The 2019 Nations Trophy, which took place from 8 to 12 October in the Bay of Palma in Spain (Balearics), proved to be a very exciting sporting event. The stakes were high for an event hosting 41 yachts from 18 countries.
Beautiful people on the water
With such eminent skippers as Bouwe Bekking (Niramo), Iker Martinez (Mathilde), Ken Read, Chris Larson (Earlybird), Jochen Schümann (OneGroup), Pietro D'Ali (Drifter Sail), Cameron Dunn (Bronenosec) and Fernando Echávarri (Skorpios), this edition promised a show.
Four championship titles were at stake during these 4 days:
- ClubSwan 50 World Champion
- World Champion Swan 45
- European Champion ClubSwan 42
- ClubSwan 36
The first are three designs of racing yachts traditionally in competition, and the ClubSwan 36 is the newest addition to the Finnish brand, which would compete for the first time.
ClubSwan 50, the ultimate category
While the newcomer attracted a lot of attention for his entry into the competition, it was nevertheless towards the ClubSwan 50 model race that most eyes were turned. And for good reason, it is the most sophisticated model developed by the racing regatta company, Nautor's Swan.
No less than 18 ships competed in this premier 50-foot event. After a frantic race, it was the Skorpios crew, led by Russian businessman Dmitri Rybolovlev at the helm, who won just ahead of the British Ross Warburton (Perhonen) team. She herself was closely followed by the German team Niramo, led by Sonke Meier-Sawatzki.
Although the British monohull had taken the lead at the beginning of the race, the wind finally turned in the Russian's favour, finishing twice first and once third over three days of racing.
A clear result
In the end, the Skorpios led by 12 points. A surprise for a team that distinguished itself with irregular performances in this Mediterranean League competition, (it started second, before falling to 15th place on the second day). But the crew has been able to earn the necessary points over the last two days.
Surprise and joy for the crew
Fernando Echávarri, Olympic gold medalist (in the Tornado class at the 2008 Beijing Olympics) and skipper of the team himself seemed surprised by his rise to this impressive final: "We had to work very hard today, with particularly harsh conditions, to which we were not used: swells and average winds, between 16 and 17 knots," he admitted. "We improved throughout the year," he explains, "we had good performances all week, the boat's results were solid, the trimmers were great, but what paid off the most was that we had very good starts all week. Our efforts have paid off: suddenly we are champions," he rejoiced after his victory.
From football to sailing
This is the first sailing prize won by Dmitri Rybolovlev, a Russian businessman best known as the owner of the Monegasque football club, AS Monaco. In a few years, and against all odds, he and his team have established themselves as brand competitors in the world of sailing.
