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One of the major events of the sailing season in Sardegna, the iconic Rolex Swan Cup was launched in Porto Cervo today. Gazprom Swan 60 Class returned once again to where it was first presented to the public.

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has just drawn to a close but another sailing event is already starting at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda - 19th edition of the Rolex Swan Cup. 2016 heralds a very special edition of the regatta marking the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Nautor's Swan and welcoming a record fleet of 125 yachts with both amateur and professional in the crews.

St. Petersburg Yacht Club and Nautor's Swan have long-standing strong friendship which resulted in the creation of the Gazprom Swan 60 Class. Official presentation of the Class was held here in Porto Cervo during Rolex Swan Cup in 2012. This year the Swan 60s gathered in the marina of Costa Smeralda to participate in the races and to be part of the celebration of the the 50th anniversary of Nautor's Swan. Gazprom Swan 60 Class is represented by 5 boats this year. Vertical Smile, SGM, Tsaar Peter and Spirit of Europe will meet at the racecourse whereas the legendary "Bronenosec" is visiting the event as an honorary guest.

Danish Vertical Smile is an old competitor having participated in a large number of the Class events. The team improved over these years and is now one of the main contenders for the leadership in the one design fleet. Team on board SGM is made up of students of the new PROFISAIL school that has recently been open at St. Petersburg Yacht Club. The boat will be skippered by the famous Russian sailor Sergey Borodinov. At the helm of Tsaar Peter we will see another Russian sailing star - Ekaterina Skudina. Ekaterina has already raced on board Swan 60 in 2013 during the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship in Cowes when she had to compete with British Shirley Robertson. Legendary Italian sailor Tommaso Chieffi will take over the tactics. It is already hard to imagine Gazprom Swan 60 Class events without teamGazprom Youth Sailing Challenge. This time the young sailors, who have already sailed hundreds of miles on Swan 60s, will be in almost all the participating teams.

Tomorrow, on Tuesday, the entire fleet will meet at the start.