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Vladimir Liubomirov, President of the Gazprom Swan 60 Class and current World Champion shares his insight into the Gazprom Swan Class and upcoming Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship. Originally the class was formed during 2012 to grow and promote the Swan 60 as the best one-design racing option within the maxi size range and received ISAF status later that year. The Gazprom Swan 60 Class now has 7 entries for the second edition of the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship to be held during 33 Copa del Rey MAPFRE.

Having raced across a number of different classes in his role as Commodore of the Saint Petersburg Yacht Club, Russia, Vladimir Liubomirov, still feels that the Swan 60 is strictly a unique sailing experience. “The boat’s high stability, direct steering system, and foils with a forgiving performance all add up to a responsive yacht. The crew also has unhindered movement around the decks whilst enjoying the carbon hull and mast with PBO rigging, the flared topsides allow for some aggressive hiking styles”.

Both the build and performance quality have instigated the fast development of the Gazprom Swan 60 fleet. “There will be 10 Swan 60s delivered by the end of 2014, the fleet has really expanded over the last 12 months and we now have a diverse mix of Russian, Chinese and European owned boats. For the World Championship we also have entries from Denmark and the British Virgin Islands. The most recent launch was that of Swan 60 Windward, sailing for Hong Kong Yacht Club, Mr Fan finished a very impressive 2nd in his first race of this year’s 3 event series. I am looking forward to more encounters on the Palma Bay race course with this talented Chinese entry”.

As well as the Chinese I am fascinated by the different style of training that the Danish team on Swan 60 Vertical Smile have adopted. “Peter Lebrandt’s team has taken a different tack to the majority of the Gazprom Swan 60 entries this year, opting to base the team from the Mediterranean earlier in the season. The team started success early in the sailing year with a first place at Coppa Carlo Negri in IRC Group 0. Counting two first places and a second at their 2014 opener regatta, this European team is clearly a podium pleaser on Mediterranean waters. Having raced as crew since 2011, Peter Lebrandt’s team have experience on their side, competing in the Rolex Swan Cup, Rolex Volcano Race and Giraglia Rolex Cup”.

With a sustained interest by some of the world’s top sailors the Gazprom Swan 60s have a superb global following and this profile is encouraging younger entries. “The racing is consistently intense; we have a wonderful mix of seasoned America’s Cup, Olympic and Whitbread Round the World Race sailors from a diverse number of nationalities. It has also been excellent to get our bright new stars of the future involved with a few youth entries. The Gazprom Russian Youth Team will be racing for Saint Petersburg Yacht Club at their first World Championship. Having already proven themselves covering 750 nautical miles as part of the 2014 Nord Stream Race, the young sailors including a double Olympian will enjoy the closer racing Palma Bay will deliver”.

Helm of Swan Bronenosec, Vladimir Liubomirov is now working on final team details prior to the World Championship. “Going into this event we are all very motivated, this is due to our hat trick in the first race of the 2014 circuit. We won all 3 legs of the Nord Stream Race which included long offshores and shorter inshore courses. The World Championship predominantly has shorter courses but will also include a longer coastal race on one of the days. We are completely equipped to perform across all disciplines of racing and are relishing the sun and seas of Palma notorious for sailing satisfaction. Our team is very capable of dealing with the pressure of retaining our number one position from 2013. I have a core crew who have remained with myself since Swan 60 Bronenosec was launched and I very much value their commitment to delivering top results. The crew is now Russian native for the majority, a big shift since 2012. The Russian sailors sit alongside the original team which was one of the first goals we set ourselves. This circuit is definitely working to produce more Russian sailing professionals and the Gazprom Russian Youth Team racing Swan 60 Tsaar Peter really demonstrates this initiative. In fact some of the youths racing on Tsaar Peter at the Nord Stream Race only a few months ago have already graduated to sail on board Bronenosec with us for the World Championship, something we are delighted about. I feel that the Gazprom Swan 60 class always includes different top sailing destinations in the circuit’s calendar and as a consequence the crews must be adaptable to different tidal and metrological conditions to stay at the front of the fleet”.

One of the Gazprom Swan 60 Classes big aims is to deliver a professional and well managed class to support activities both on and off the water integrally supported by Gazprom and in the safe hands of current Class President, this has come to fruition. “I feel we have met this aim with the introduction of our one-design, annual Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship. We have kept our circuit events to date mainly within Europe, this year we have made the move to the Mediterranean. The race management style is always of a high quality as we only run our circuit events in association with high profile yacht clubs who have serious experience. This will definitely attract further entries year on year”.

Visit the Regatta Copa Del Rey Mapfre race website for further information.