Howth Yacht Club sailors Dylan Gannon and Luke Malcolm are lying seventh overall after four races sailed on Ross Warburton’s Club Swan 50 Perhonen at this week's Swan Copa Del Rey Mapfre at Palma, Spain.
As you would expect at a Swan Regatta, there's an endless list of big crew names in attendance, and in particular, tacticians are a who's who of America's Cup and Olympic sailing in the 16-boat Swan 50 fleet, including sailors from the Grand Prix circuits and Volvo Ocean Races too.
In all, seven Irish sailors are in action this week, with the regatta running until Saturday. Six are racing in the Swan 50s with Julie Tingle racing in the Swan 36 division.
On the Bay of Palma, it was one of Spain’s most decorated Olympic heroes, Iker Martinez, who guided Andrea Masi’s Italian flagged ClubSwan 50 Ulika to the best scores of the day, a first and second from the hot fleet which includes Olympic aces such as Jochen Schumann (ONEGroup) and Tom Slingsby (Earlybird).
King Philip VI rarely misses a regatta and this year is no exception. The Spanish monarch competes on ORC 1 division of the regatta on Aifos500
HYC's Gannon is back sailing with his regular team (downwind trim) on Perhonen, and clubmate Malcolm is making his Swan 50 debut as a bowman.
Fresh from success in the J/80s in Denmark, North Sails Ireland sailmaker Shane Hughes is back with his regular team (running the boat) on Mathilde. The National Yacht Club's Will Byrne from Dublin Bay is running the mid-bow on Mathilde, currently lying 13th at the halfway point of the regatta.
Swan 50 racing in the Bay of Palma Photo: Ricardo Pinto
Cork Harbour native Tom McWilliam is a headsail trimmer on the Utekha and is joined by Ireland's Volvo Round the World champion Justin Slattery.
