The first hull in Nautor's Swan's new ClubSwan 80 class of one-design race boats has been delivered to its owner. Named My Song, the 24 metre sailing yacht splashed last month and is the fifth in a series of yachts by the same commissioned by experienced yachtsman Pier Luigi Loro Piana.
My Song was penned by Nautor Swan’s designer Juan Kouyoumdjian with her interior by Nauta Design and construction completed with the yard’s strategic partner Persico Marine. Nauta Design and Pier Luigi Loro Piana worked together on the original My Song, but this is the first time the Milanese studio and Finnish shipyard Nautor's Swan have collaborated on a project.
Speaking on the new launch, Giovanni Pomati, Nautor Group CEO, said: “The launch of the ClubSwan 80 is opening a new chapter in the Maxi’s story. A pure racer with the possibility to add comfort and enjoy a sporting cruise, is something very innovative, allowing our owners to have their racer and cruiser attitude to coexist and gift them with great fun."
To make her a light boat with a shallow draft, My Song features a 4.75-metre canting keel with her own sailing team contributing to the technicalities of her side-force appendages. She is also fitted with a retractable bowsprit that can hoist a spinnaker and twin rudders. “This boat is built to the same standards we use for America’s Cup boats and IMOCA 60s engaged in the toughest ocean races such as The Ocean Race and Vendée Globe,” says Marcello Persico, CEO of Persico Marine.
Inside, the brief was to create an interior suitable for a carbon, one-design racer, but one that also had a second character as a family cruiser. The interior is kept purposefully bare due to the competitive nature of the boat, but makes use of carbon fibre, warm mahogany and artful lighting.
Most of the interior furnishings are lightweight and modular so they can be detached and taken ashore when in race mode. Almost all the interior elements can be removed, from the gimbled oven and saloon tables to the carbon-fibre toilets in the three bathrooms. Just the bench seats in the saloon are built in, serving a structural purpose and doubling as watch berths when racing offshore. Even the aircon system is removable.
The ClubSwan 80 plugs the gap between the shipyard's popular ClubSwan 50, the foil-assisted ClubSwan 36 and the in-build flagship ClubSwan 125. “The ClubSwan Yacht division is growing, and I'm sure this new member of the family will make a difference in the racing landscape,” said Kouyoumdjian, who worked alongside project manager Vittorio Volonté, engineer Giovanni Belgrano and rig designer Scott Ferguson.
“The market is always asking for something different, out of the box, and our ClubSwan Yachts range can offer a fresh, bold and innovative solution, setting the bar high. The CS80 is a pure racer but is also an incredible yacht for fast sailing, shorthanded sailing, and comfortable sports cruising,” said Pomati.
“The ClubSwan80 design answers a specific brief: a fast Maxi optimised to race in the Mediterranean as well as offering accommodation to enjoy life at sea and fun shorthanded sailing,” said Pedol. “We were called upon to manage, from a design point of view, the ‘second life’ of this racing machine: a super-fast and fun yacht also capable of cruising in comfort with a few modular superlight components, built to the highest technology by Persico Marine.”
My Song completes the ClubSwan range which includes the ClubSwan 36, 50 and 125 models. She is set to make her debut at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in September followed by the Monaco Yacht Show.