Black Swan Racing Wins Trapani International Match Race 2009

Today was a real test of patience. We came to Trapani prepared to sail the 3 man Comet 21 but following some teething problems we went back to sailing the reliable Zip 25's. Today for the finals we were back into the Comet 21 yachts with all problems fixed. Added to this we were sailing in the tricky Trapani Harbour - the ball game could not have been more different to earlier in the regatta.

We choose Jacopo Pasini from Italy as our opponent in the semi-final. Leaving Linberg (Finland) and Orel (Slovenia) to fight it out in the other semi. Our first race against Pasini didn't start well as we were penalised after a close port and starboard between the two boats. Unfazed we fought back neutralising the penalty and gaining one against Pasini just before the starting horn. We went on to gain the lead and sail the shifts well to take the win. Race 2 was a similar story with Pasini being penalised just before the start with a red flag penalty forcing him into taking his penalty immediately handing us the lead and putting us 2-0 in the best of five series. The final race didn't feature any penalties but we trailed off the start line and around the first and second marks. On the second up wind we picked up a nice shift and just managed to gain the lead from here we held Pasini off to book our spot in the final. Lindberg defeated Orel in the other semi making for a Swinton V Lindberg Final.

We came into the finals knowing Lindberg would be a tough opponent especially in his favoured light and shifty conditions. This proved to be right as they took the first two races in the finals despite us leading off the start line on both occasions. Just before our entry into the third race, a must win match for us our jib halyard snapped leaving us without a jib. In a tough situation we managed to quickly re-rig the jib whilst trying to stay trouble free in the pre-start. Despite being restricted for most of the pre-start we managed to get a great start and sail away for a confidence boosting win. With time quickly running out we went into the final race knowing a win would level the series and with no more time for racing we would win on count back. We managed to get a solid start but it was still tight with Lindberg by the top mark. We did a great job of defending on the downwind and continued to build our lead to win the race and take out the 2009 Trapani International Match Race.

Final Results

1. Keith Swinton (AUS, Black Swan Racing)
2. Steffan Lindberg (FIN, Alandia Sailing Team)
3. Jure Orel (SLO, Bora Sailing Team)
4. Jacopo Pasini (ITA, JP Match)
5. Eric Monnin (SUI, Team Monnin)
6. G L Perris (MON, Team Dangerous but Fun)
7. M Perris (MON, Team Dangerous but Fun)
8. Rasmus Viltoft (DEN)
9. Simone Ferrarese (ITA, Ferrarese Racing)
10. Nick Cherry (GBR, Cherry Racing)

Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.

South of Perth Yacht Club
Brian Kerman from Kerman Contracting
Brad Abbott from Abbotts PTY LTD Chartered Accountants
Musto Australia and Scott Olney from Musto Western Australia/Liquid Leisure Agencies
Philip Ericson from Trendmark Sweden Agent for Musto
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation

Black Swan Racing

Black Swan Racing Wins Bentley Geneva Match Race

Having reached the semi final stage of the competition ranked in 3rd place we raced French Veteran and Americas Cup sailor Bertrand Pace in the best of 5 semi-finals. As we sailed out onto Lake Geneva conditions seemed light however a steady 12-18 knot northeast breeze built in for the start of racing.

In our first two races, Pace gave us some sailing lessons particularly in the 2nd race. Despite leading with a penalty against Pace he managed to overtake us on the downwind leg from here he to sailed us past the bottom rounding mark whilst luffing us to equalise the penalties.

Being two down we needed a big turn around to get back into the regatta. We started the 3rd race behind Pace but sailed well picking a nice left hand wind shift to gain the lead. From here we sailed well to take the win. We knew if we could win the 2nd race and level the series we’d be right in the game. We started well winning the favoured right hand side of the start and crossing 2 lengths ahead of Pace as the boats met. From here we managed to defend our lead and level the semi final series 2-2.

Going into the last race we had the momentum. We pulled off a great start, crossing Pace on the start line on port tack. From this position we worked the right side of the course to hold off the fast finishing French and take our place in the final.

Going into the best of 3 final against Steffan Lindberg of Finland we were very confident. Our first race featured a big collision between the two yachts as we hit Lindberg during the pre-start manoeuvring. Lindberg was given the penalty however our boat was taking on water. Luckily we started ahead and managed to nurse the boat around the course and take race 1. Because of the damage the umpires conducted a race hearing, they deducted Lindberg a full point for damage whilst we were given some blame for the incident and given a half point deduction. This meant we needed 1 more win from 2 races to take the title.

Again we started well leading off the line. Despite Lindberg’s best efforts to get into the race we kept control and finished with a comfortable lead winning the 2009 Bentley Geneva Match Race.

“It was a great relief to get a win on the board. Nick Bastow, Ed Hill and Tudor Owen did a fantastic job keeping us in it. We were nearly out against Pace but fought back and after this it was our day.” Keith Swinton BSR helmsman.




Final Results

1st Keith Swinton (AUS)

2nd Steffan Lindberg (FIN)

3rd Bertrand Pace (FRA)

4th Jerome Clerc (SUI)

5th Alexis Littoz (FRA)

6th Eric Monnin (SUI)

7th Prezemeck Tarnacki (POL)

8th David Chapman (AUS)

9th John Sheedy (IRL)

10th Jure Orel (SLO)



Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.


South of Perth Yacht Club
Brian Kerman from Kerman Contracting
Brad Abbott from Abbotts PTY LTD Chartered Accountants
Musto Australia and Scott Olney from Musto Western Australia/Liquid Leisure Agencies
Philip Ericson from Trendmark Sweden Agent for Musto
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation

Black Swan Racing

Black Swan Racing out of Gold Cup

Having to win 2 of our final 3 group 1 round robin races to have any chance of progressing we came ready to fight hard.

Conditions on Hamilton Harbour were very blustery causing many boat break downs prior to our first match against reigning World Match Racing Tour Champion Ian Williams. Finally our match got underway in 18-20 knots of wind speed. Following some brief maneuvering in the pre-start area we went to complete our first gybe of the race and bang our boom broke clean in half. Unfortunately this meant the end of our race as breakdowns are not grounds for redress.

This meant out next race against Damien Iehl (French Match Racing Team) was a must win. We managed to get a great start however we picked up a late penalty giving Iehl the advantage. We managed to hold a narrow lead throughout the whole race and on the final leg we attacked Iehl to try and negate our penalty. We managed to do a reasonable job of this luffing Iehl and completing our turn coming out neck and neck with the French team. As both boats approached the finish line we had to look to the finish boat for the result Iehl took the win ending our chances at Gold Cup 2009.

Our final race of the regatta was against our local rival Torvar Mirsky (Mirsky Racng Team). Our races always seem to be very close which is enjoyable and not wanting to bow out of the regatta with a loss we pushed MRT hard in the pre-start gaining a penalty in the final seconds before crossing the start line. Both teams fought hard for the lead throughout the race with MRT rounding the final mark with a small lead. MRT worked hard to try and trap us by slowing down but we kept a safe distance and took our opportunity to pass when it presented, crossing the line ahead and taking a deserved win.

"Having done so well here last year it is very disappointing to be knocked out early this year. With this format it was really important to start the regatta well we didn't do this loosing some early matches against lower ranking opposition. This made is hard for us against the top teams" Keith Swinton.

We now head back to Europe to close out the season with our final regattas in Spain and Italy.

Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.

South of Perth Yacht Club
Brian Kerman from Kerman Contracting
Brad Abbott from Abbotts PTY LTD Chartered Accountants
Musto Australia and Scott Olney from Musto Western Australia/Liquid Leisure Agencies
Philip Ericson from Trendmark Sweden Agent for Musto
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation

Black Swan Racing

3rd in Detroit

Detroit Cup Finals

Black Swan Racing (BSR) clinched 3rd place at the Detroit Cup after loosing their semi final to Olympic gold medallist Tunnicliffe (USA). BSR put in a solid display after this disappointment, beating Jury (NZL) 2-1 in the petit final.

In the lightest conditions over the 4 days BSR lost the first race against Tunnicliffe, getting stalled on the line allowing Tunnicliffe to sail away. This put the scores at 1-1 with a sudden death race to follow. In the deciding race BSR recovered from a poor start and regained the lead by the first windward mark, holding the advantage to the leeward mark. Up the second beat BSR lost out to a wind shift and more pressure, Tunnicliffe overtook BSR and despite being close on her tail BSR were unable to overtake in the last leg.

In the petit finals BSR sailed well, and came back from 1-0 down to win the next two deciding races, leading from the start and covering well to gain 3rd place. Swinton stated that “it was disappointing to loose to Tunnicliffe, we were sailing well and as a team deserved to do better. That said its been a solid display in America, we’ve got into the semi finals of all 3 events and have been one of the most consistent teams which is especially pleasing as all 3 boats have been very different. I’m sure our win will come soon and we’ve just got to keep on doing the basics right and hopefully our luck will turn”.

Chicago - Practice day

Highlights and comments after Pornichet

Internationaux de France Minard Trophy - Pornichet

Keith Swinton about upcomin event after practice day.