Swan One Design Worlds: Coup off Palma - "Olymp" wins world championship gold

Before the final day, Mark Bezner's "Olymp" was not yet in the top five of the high-calibre Swan Summit. But then the German ClubSwan 50 shot past all the favourites with 1st and 3rd place. The team led by owner and helmsman Mark Bezner, tactician Jochen Schümann and the mainly Spanish crew had even picked up a penalty point for a minor collision in the sixth and final race of the Swan One Design Worlds. But the brilliant final spurt on Sunday was enough to overtake the competition, who were used to winning.

Swan One Design Worlds: "Olympic" victory

With 17 points on her World Championship account, "Olymp" narrowly beat Graeme Peterson's "Moonlight" (18 points, Monaco) and Leonardo Ferragamo's "Cuordileone" (19 points, Italy) in the battle for the World Championship title. The two-time world champions on Marcus Brennecke's "Hatari" (20 points, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht Club) lost out in the battle for the podium places in the final sprint, narrowly missing out on their hoped-for third world title in fourth place.

Mark Bezner celebrated the success with his son and crew member Louis Bezner and the team: "This is overwhelming! We are still a young team, it's only our fourth season. I had never competed in regattas before and joined ClubSwan Racing as a newcomer. The crew has done a fantastic job this week."

"The Bezner family hasn't been around very long, but has made it from newcomers to world champions." Jochen Schümann

After the challenging years on the rise with not always joyful results, this victory at the Swan One Design Worlds also tasted good to "Olymp" tactician Jochen Schümann. "Winning is always fun," said the three-time Olympic champion and two-time America's Cup winner with a smile. Jochen Schümann went on to report on the demanding conditions at the World Championships: "Today was another challenging day on the final day. The start had to be cancelled twice in 20-degree wind shifts..."

Three German boats in the top six

Commenting on the victory on the home straight, Mark Bezner, whose company Olymp has just developed the sustainable clothing collection "No Dye" in its second collaboration with Vendée Globe star Boris Herrmann, said that his team had performed "outstandingly" on the final day: "We had two great starts. We obviously like challenging conditions. We seem to be more successful on average."

The four-day one-design Swan titles in three classes were completed with six of the eight scheduled races on Sunday in the bay of Palma, where the winds often proved to be unstable in late October. "Olymp" (Real Club Nàutico de Palma) won World Championship gold with a series of 11, 7, 3, 3, 1, 3. The first six of the twelve World Championship boats were separated by just six points in the 50-foot one-design class of ClubSwan Racing. Sixth place went to Hendrik Brandis' "Earlybird" (23 points, Bayerischer Yacht-Cub/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein).

The showdown on Sunday did not bring the hoped-for success for the historically most successful German ClubSwan "Hatari". Owner and helmsman Marcus Brennecke said after the decision: "It's a bit hard right now. We had thought that we might be able to win the title a third time, but 'Olymp' deserved it. We were absolutely in the game until the last day, but all three podium crews deserved it." "Hatari's" run of 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 7th, 8th and 4th place in Palma was not quite enough to win the World Championship medal this time.

"Hatari" again best ClubSwan 50 of the season

Instead, however, the multiple "Hatari" winners lifted the Nations League trophy for the season championship for the fifth time in a row. None of the other Club Swan 50 competitors came close to their annual tally of 1, 1, 2, 3 and 4. "It was a great year for us overall and I'm proud of that. Hopefully we'll come back even stronger next year. We're looking forward to it!" said Marcus Brennecke in Palma.

The popular single-seater racing class is once again looking forward to strong growth. Jochen Schümann said that up to 17 50s are expected in the Nations League for the coming season. The current World Championship title in the ClubSwan 42 medium one-design class was won by the Spanish "Nadir". Haakon Lorentzen's "Mamo" won the ClubSwan 36 under a Brazilian sail number. Nikolai Burkart's "Goddess" sailed to sixth place.

Click here for the results of the Swan One Design Worlds.

Smile! Good mood clip in front of the Swan One Design Worlds in the bay of Palma with some German faces...