SAIL

SUN, SURF AND SWANS

Source: The mighty Freya launches off a wave on her way to an overall victory in Class A

The two ClubSwan 50s locked in battle: a typical scene throughout the regatta

Be warned. If you ever get a chance to go out on a photo boat with world-renowned marine photographer Carlo Borlenghi, what he likes best is taking dramatic shots of big boats in big waves—really big waves.

It was for this reason that Carlo, our RIB driver, Claudia Tosi, and I spent the better part of a half hour bashing our way out to Pajaros Point at the eastern tip of Virgin Gorda, a chunk of land that is about as mean-looking as they come—with true fangs for rocks reaching out into a maelstrom of breakers.

Worse yet, once there we spent another 20 minutes or so just wallowing around, at the same time occasionally bailing out the well of our RIB after the bilge pump apparently decided to give up the ghost. It wasn’t long before I was seriously questioning the wisdom of both our course of action and my own personal decision to join these two obvious fanatics.

And then it, followed by two brand-new ClubSwan 50s locked in battle, and the German-flagged : the vanguard of the 16 boats taking part in the 2017 Rolex Swan Cup Regatta, on the deep blue waters off the British Virgin Islands.

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