Sixteen Swans will be on the starting line of the upcoming Rolex Fastnet Race this Saturday. They represent nearly the entire history of Nautor Swan’s production, from the iconic early Sparkman & Stephens designs to the latest models by German Frers.
To celebrate their participation, Nautor Swan Global Service hosted a toast yesterday afternoon at the Royal Air Force Yacht Club in Hamble. During the evening the Swan 46 Anne Bonny with female crew has been honored with the Spirit of Swan Award.
Nautor Swan is proud to announce that a fleet of 16 Swan yachts will be among the 451 competitors at the starting line of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2025, which sets sail this Saturday, 26 July. This year marks the centennial edition of the legendary offshore race, first held in 1925.
The race will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes, Isle of Wight, with yachts navigating through the Fastnet Rock off southwest Ireland and Bishop Rock off the Scilly Isles, before finishing in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France. The original course, until recent editions, concluded in Plymouth, Cornwall.
The Swan fleet reflects the full breadth of Nautor’s heritage, from iconic Sparkman & Stephens designs to the latest creations by German Frers. It’s worth recalling the remarkable line honours victory of the ClubSwan 125 Skorpios in the 2021 edition of the Fastnet, an achievement that remains a milestone in the race’s modern history.
While the new ClubSwan 28 fleet makes its debut this weekend on a freshwater course in Lake Garda, the broader Nautor Swan family proudly flies its burgee in one of the world’s most challenging and celebrated offshore races.
Recent offshore success in the Aegean 600 also highlights Swan’s continued dominance: the Swan 441 Best Buddies, skippered by Kay-Johannes Wrede, claimed overall victory in the under both IRC and ORC handicap systems and the Swan 80 Umiko, owned by Philip Rann, took victory in the Maxi class.
We strongly hope to see a Swan yacht take the top honors again in this historic edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race.
This centennial edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will break the previous record entry of 430 yachts, set during the race’s 50th edition in 2023. With 451 boats now confirmed, the Rolex Fastnet Race is by far the world’s largest offshore yacht race in terms of participation.
Yachts will be racing under the flags of 34 countries, with crew members representing 57 nations, and participants ranging in age from 14 to 81 years old, a true testament to the global and intergenerational appeal of offshore sailing.
To celebrate the Swan Fleet, Nautor Swan Global Service hosted a toast yesterday afternoon at the Royal Air Force Yacht Club in Hamble, Southampton one of the famous yachting places. The Swan 46 Anne Bonny has been honored with the Spirit of Swan Award. Anne Bonny has been named after the courageous female pirate who sailed the world sea’s in the 17th century, currently this beautiful Swan is being sailed by an adventurous all-female Belgian team crew “Swanne Bonny”.
The Swan yachts at the Rolex Fastnet Race:
- Coco De Mer, Swan 62RS, Jonathan Butler.
- Truwen, Swan 38, Jens Werner Hinrinchs.
- Anne Bonny, Swan 46 MKII, Elke De Witte & Sigrid Huyghe.
- Astrid, Swan 44, Patrick Moriarty.
- Baraka, Swan 53, Benjamin Day.
- Bedouin, Swan 53, Guglielmo Giuseppe Giordano & Linda Goddard.
- Conspiracy, ClubSwan 42, Ray Mitchell & Nick Bradley.
- Eira, Swan 51, Pontus Gylling & Sebastian Gylling.
- Gladeye, Swan 391, Paul Chishick & James Dyson.
- Glen Ellen, ClubSwan 42, Alexis Lepesteur.
- Mercury, ClubSwan 42, Ross Eldred.
- Mynx, Swan 46, Kenneth Cunnane.
- Reindeer, Swan 43, Jack Meredith.
- Snow Wolf, Swan 48, Robert Nichols.
- Galiana Withsecure, Swan 55, Tapio Lehtinen
- Miri, Swan 48, Erik Nijdam
