Nautor Swan’s Federico Michetti is a world-class sailor obsessed with perfection. Sail a short distance with him, and you’ll watch him make OCD-level adjustments. And when those adjustments come easy, as they do on the ClubSwan 28, he can’t help himself. Two-tenths of a knot slow? He feels it before the crash happens, and he’s already moving to the 28’s mast jack handle, the three-dimensional jib lead, the cunningham tugging the mainsail’s structured luff, or the myriad other controls that get a noticeable response from the 28-footer. Shift a gear and you feel it. Get it into a groove and it is lights-out fun, both upwind and downwind. This is Michetti’s kind of boat—a proper raceboat.

The judges agree, it’s Boat of the Year worthy.

“This thing is a pretty sexy boat,” judge Mike Ingham says. “I can definitely see the curb appeal, and we knew it was going to be sophisticated. Everything is ergonomically correct. It’s a performance boat, but it’s also a beautiful machine, and from the second we stepped on it, I was like, whoa. This is cool.”

Built in Cartagena, Spain, by the Sinergia Racing Group for Nautor Swan, the ClubSwan 28 is the smallest offering in ClubSwan one-design lineup that now stretches to 50-footers. Conceptually, Michetti explains to the judges, the boat is meant to bring new owners into the Nautor Swan stratosphere, with a no-hassle one-design boat and an organized and builder-supported regatta circuit.

The design itself is all Juan Kouyoumdjian: It is unique, technical and loves to sail on its rail. From the chines to the reverse sheer and deck chamfer, it all adds up to a fast and forgiving platform. “The whole package is about reducing drag and windage and saving material and weight,” says Dobbs Davis, an ORC measurer with a keen eye to the behaviors of modern hulls.

Good hull design is nothing without a legitimate rig and sail package, however, and here Ingham was having fun with the boat’s easy-to-play sail controls—especially the hydraulic mast ram and the structured luff (the boat had a North Sails quiver for our test sail) for mast control in the absence of a backstay.

“It’s interesting because it’s got a ram that you can adjust throughout the race, but with the cunningham and the structured luff, you’re bending the mast with compression,” Ingham says. “The cunningham is led back to the main trimmer, just below the mainsheet block, and when you pull that on, mast bend is noticeable. It’s really sophisticated in that you have multiple ways to quickly depower, between the rig itself and the structured luff.”

Prepreg vinlyester construction gives the boat impressive stiffness and a solid feel underfoot, Davis says, and that was noticeable during their session in 10 to 15 knots and flat water. “When you get on a this boat, it is a completely different feeling. It really is. Things are tight as a drum and when we pulled the controls on hard, nothing flexed. It’s incredibly solid.”

Michetti, a world champion of a bunch of grand-prix one-design classes, has the experience to ensure the boat’s ergonomics were right. Access to lines, the layouts, and the overall crewing ergonomics were strong selling points for judge Monica Morgan.

“It was really comfortable,” she says, “the cockpit had plenty of room, and even on the rail it didn’t feel as if we were all bunched up. Being a smaller person, I could do most things on the boat, and that’s pretty cool. I can see it as being manageable by a novice owner that’s new to racing. And I could see a high-level sailor being able to push its limits. There’s plenty of power in the sails, it’s really responsive, and it’s especially fun downwind.”

At 2,600 pounds, the boat is light, and with an L-shaped keel that draws 6 feet, the ClubSwan 28 can be easily trailered and raced in skinny-water venues. Michetti says an experienced team can have the boat off the trailer, tuned and sailing in four hours or less. And as to professionals, one-design class rules have no limitations aside from an owner-driver restriction and a maximum crew weight of 400 kilograms. The owner, however, can declare a weight of 85 kilograms and be exempt from any crew weigh-in requirements.

There is only one class spinnaker allowed (maximum area is 936 square feet) and only two class jibs. At ClubSwan events, the race committee determines which sail is to be used across the fleet based on the wind strength.

ClubSwan regattas, of which there are plenty in Europe, give owners and crew a unique environment that hints at a modest level of exclusivity. The U.S. plan for the class—as of October 2025—is to launch a series in Pensacola, Florida in the winter and Newport, R.I., in the summer. Success of the endeavor will rest upon Nautor Swan remaining committed to the class stateside. Should that happen, there’s a fun future of high-level class racing for those who seek turnkey racing.

“That is the one cool thing about the ClubSwan concept and this boat. Aside from the M32 catamaran group and the IC37s for New York YC, which is a different sort of thing, nobody has done anything like this in the U.S. for a conventional keelboat class, so this is a new deal,” Davis says. “Federico said they’re very motivated for the U.S. market because they see the potential here as untapped.”

Michetti’s stated price for the boat, in October and the midst of the U.S. tariff uncertainty, was $283,000. The judges agree that while that may seem high initially, it is a reasonable cost to experience the ClubSwan racing sphere. But for this price, they add, there’s a lot that comes with it: a sophisticated carbon build, purposeful high-quality hardware and systems and access to the club. And yes, you can club race it, day sail it and show it off all you want. It is a Swan.

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It’s the golden hour in Mallorca, and the late-October setting sun bathes the magnificent Palma Cathedral in electric orange. We’re cruising back to the harbor under mainsail and motor as the Cuordileone sailing team flakes the jib into its bag and strips spinnaker sheets. Fashion magnate Leonardo Ferragamo—the boat’s owner and helmsman, and soul of the modern-day Nautor Swan brand—has disappeared belowdecks. The third race of the afternoon was a true test of Ferragamo’s concentration.

As a media guest restricted to the back of the boat on the opening day of the Swan One Design World Championships, I can attest that buoy racing ClubSwan 50s loaded with pro sailors and owner-drivers is indeed mentally taxing. If I were Ferragamo, I too would head straight to the aft cabin.

“Does he go down and take a nap?” I ask the team’s tactician, Álvaro Marinho, a two-time Olympic 470 sailor from Portugal.

“Oh, no, phone calls,” Marinho answers. “Mr. Ferragamo is always on the phone. Many businesses.”

One of Ferragamo’s ventures is, of course, the Nautor Swan universe, which he has led since 1998, ushering in the Italian era of sailing’s most enduring yacht brand. In the years since, Nautor Swan has assumed an entirely different look and feel. Gone are the stout and heavy IOR hangovers of yore. In are the sexier and faster shapes prevalent in race boats today. The yesteryear Swan regime aligned with the greats of German Frers and Sparkman & Stephens. Today, it’s Juan K and design houses that work their magic with sophisticated tools. There are now gigantic Swan Maxis that stretch well past 100 feet, and all sorts of bold concepts: daggerboards on the ClubSwan 36, for example, or the tubercle rudders on the ClubSwan 50. Which is all to say that Nautor Swan and its new majority shareholder, the Sanlorenzo Group, are charging forward with innovation. We just don’t see it here in the US.  

It’s not all big boats, though. Well below the 70- and 80-footers, they’ve recently launched the ClubSwan 28 as the “entry to the ClubSwan Racing world,” as well as the ClubSwan 43 crossover, released back-to-back over the past two years. Building and launching new models is one thing, but there’s also been a greater emphasis on building a desire to belong.

That’s where the whole ClubSwan thing comes into the conversation. To own a slick boat is one thing; to be part of the club is another. Creating a deeper owner connection requires extra effort and resources beyond the sales contract, and this is where many boatbuilders today lose the plot. Rendezvous, regattas, and extraordinary class championships in Palma and other ports of the Med is Nautor’s way of tying it all together. And it’s working.

When I get the chance to see it for myself, it’s obvious that Swan pride is abundant on the docks in Palma for the three-class ­world-championship event. Present are a dozen top-end ClubSwan 50 programs, 10 ClubSwan 36s lined up Med-style to the Real Club Nautico de Palma’s bulwark, and a fleet of now-ancient ClubSwan 42s, a model that’s no longer in production but still plenty active in Europe as an ORC weapon. The CS50 programs have their containers in the parking lot. The 42 teams have their gear and sails piled in chest-high portable dock boxes. Corporate-sponsor logos are omnipresent, but for the most part, affluent private owners and their sailing teams are the ones racking up tabs at the club. Matching team gear is definitely a thing.

As we wait for wind on the first day, there’s the typical scene of sail tending, grazing, friendly banter and idle boatwork. And here among the activity I meet Federico Michetti, an Italian sailor with a dozen world-championship titles. He’s relatively new to the Nautor Swan team, assigned with a broad title of sport director. 

Michetti’s role within the company was created a few years ago in order to create greater cohesion and community among owners and its nascent classes, which primarily pull owners from Northern Europe and the Med. As Michetti says, “We take care of all the racing around the world, which, with more than 2,000 boats around the world, is significant, because in every marina, there is a Swan.”

This One Design Worlds is the pinnacle event of a long season of racing in amazing locations, he says. “There are other circuits for owner-drivers, but what makes us special is that while the competition is important, all the other aspects related to the activities, the parties and the social are equally important. Connecting to owners is vital for the glamour that comes with being a Swan owner.”

Only one person goes home with a trophy, he adds, so everyone else has to leave with a greater sense of belonging to something amazing.

When the AP flag finally lowers after a long morning postponement, I’m jettisoned to the guest spot on board the ClubSwan 50 Olymp, with Mark Bezner, a relatively new owner, and his tactician-for-hire, Jochen Schümann, the great German Olympian and coach to the stars. On the motor out to the race area, Schümann shares that he was responsible for developing the ClubSwan 50 class rules and knows well the delicate balance of making the unattainable attainable in a grand-prix world where owners with bottomless budgets get burned out and ego-driven pros forget that their primary job is to make the owner happy. The “club” concept ensures that doesn’t happen.

As we follow the race-­committee boat while they search for the ideal place to set a course, I’m told that I will be taken off the boat and shuttled to Cuordileone, the dark-green boat of Ferragamo. His guest had canceled at the last minute, and he needs one more person to remain weight-compliant.
I climb on board from an umpire RIB that has been commandeered to transfer me, and am greeted by Michetti, who introduces me to a few of the sailors. Italian is the official language of the crew, and I quickly sense it’s a tight-knit squad of Ferragamo’s regulars: a few veterans at the back of the boat pulling on the big ropes and the young ones up front in charge of everything else.

The headsail goes up, and we’re off on an upwind course. Eventually, Ferragamo emerges from the companionway and gingerly steps to the starboard steering wheel, puts his phone into his coat pocket, adjusts his sunglasses, and stares intently ahead. He’s regal, tall and ­slender—and in his element.

After pinging the ends of the starting line, we’re soon into the sequence, and Marinho’s ­intensity elevates as we sail below the starboard herd on port tack. Near the boat end of the line, we tack with 30 ­seconds to go. I can see exactly what he’s setting up for. He wants the boat, but there’s already a big pileup of ­50-footers hovering and ­waiting. This will be interesting.

We’ve all been there: It starts with hope, then comes the urgency to slow for a last-­minute opening. There’s no stopping our momentum, and in a blink, our bow is feet from impact, but Marinho knows when to give up and guides Ferragamo away from disaster.

The second row will have to do, and we’re promptly clearing out to the right, bouncing between boats and clear lanes until we’re near the top of the course, where the entire fleet compresses. We cross one boat, then tack on the lee bow of another. Not laying, we tack again inside the three-length zone, charging toward a pair of boats on the starboard layline.

Oh, this is going to be good, I think, and reach for my iPhone to capture the moment of chaos. Marinho leaps to the leeward cockpit coaming and stares down the starboard tacker’s tactician, who has eyes locked on us. Marinho gives a few rotations of his extended thumb, up and down, as if to ask whether to tack or cross ahead. He gets no response, and with feet to spare, Ferragamo turns the wheel hard to avoid a collision. There’s no more than a foot between the starboard boat’s bowsprit and our stern. The umpires are watching, and there’s no flag or whistle. My heart is racing, but Ferragamo is icy-cool, as if he’s done this plenty of times.

Downwind and upwind, we go again on a few more laps to somehow finish this race third. Ferragamo disappears below until the next race, and the pattern repeats itself twice more, with three top-five finishes.

As we near the harbor entrance, Marinho assembles everyone in the cockpit for the debrief. Ferragamo eventually comes on deck, puts away his phone, and settles in among the crew. For 10 minutes, Marinho shares his thoughts, some of which I can translate. There’s discussion about target ­boatspeeds and Ferragamo’s wanderings away from them. There’s something about a communication breakdown from the back of the boat to the front of the boat that resulted in rushed maneuvers, and I think a confession from Marinho that he needs to dial down his intensity. 

I don’t know what they’re saying, exactly, but it’s all ­fundamentals: Stay on target, communicate early and clearly, relax, and have fun. It’s a sailboat race. We’re in Palma, and we’re in the Club, so enjoy it.

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The Swan One Design Worlds came to a dramatic conclusion in Palma de Mallorca over the weekend with the world champions crowned in three ClubSwan Racing classes—two by a single point—and the season-long Nations League ultimately decided.

In the ClubSwan 36 fleet, teams from Brazil, Germany and Spain took the top spots with Haakon Lorentzen’s Mamao, of Brazil, claiming the ClubSwan 36 title after overhauling series leader and three-race winner Black Battalion. Edoardo Ferragamo’s Cuordileone completed the podium.

“I am feeling great, it is our second time,” said Lorentzen, adding the key to their success was never giving up and fighting to the finish. “I was 68 when I won my first world championship, and now I am 70 and have won my second.”

Mark Bezner’s Olymp, hailing from Germany, claimed the ultra-close ClubSwan 50 title by a single point from Raquel and Graeme Peterson’s Moonlight. Leonardo Ferragamo’s Cuordileone, the 2023 world title holder toke the final place on the podium. The level of competition was highlighted by the fact that the top-five boats in the 12-strong class were each only a point apart.

“It’s outstanding and a great reward for our team,” Bezner said. “We’re a new team and the first day was a bit rough but today we had two great starts—we like challenging conditions, we do a bit better. I have only been with ClubSwan Racing for four years, having never raced a regatta before, so you can imagine how I feel.”

Perhaps appropriately, given the Bay of Palma arena, the similarly tight competition for the ClubSwan 42 world title was an all-Spanish affair, with Pedro Vaquer Comas’ Nadir edging out Jose Maria Meseguer’s Pez de Abril—again by a single point. Adriano Majolino’s Canopo, the 2024 Rolex Swan Cup winner with two race victories on its Palma card, was third.

Back ashore Comas said, “We’re feeling very good, it has been a very competitive event for everyone. The 42 class is very strong at the moment and this is the second time we have won the Worlds so we will enjoy it. The team has been together 10 years so I am very proud.”

The teams in the Swan One Design Worlds experienced varied conditions throughout the week, providing a suitable challenge of their skills across the wind range, as well as a rather different challenge for the experienced race management team at the Real Club Náutico de Palma, host for the ClubSwan Racing regatta.

It was an equally close-run affair in the 2024 The Nations League ClubSwan 50 series with Moonlight — despite a strong performance in Palma and victory in the recent Rolex Swan Cup — ending the season as runner-up to Marcus Brennecke’s Hatari, with the German yacht adding to her winning streak.

“It is disappointing to have lost the World Championship, but Olymp deserved it,” said Brennecke. “On the other hand, winning the Nations League title for the fifth time in a row shows that we are sailing well. But it is so competitive and everyone can win — that is the beauty of ClubSwan Racing.”

Despite their third-place finish in the Swan One Design Worlds, Cuordileone was able to secure the overall season ClubSwan 36 Nations League title. Edoardo Ferragamo said, “It was a very beautiful season even if the weather wasn’t the easiest, but we managed to keep the team strong to the end, so we are happy with that.”

A similar tale unfolded in the ClubSwan 42 class, where earlier performances in the season secured the overall title for Jose Maria Meseguer’s Pez de Abril.

“We are very happy obviously as the Nations League is a very important trophy,” Meseguer said. “The highlight for me is that we have been able to hit our targets through the season. We have so many new people who are coming in and they are improving a lot — so everyone is trying very hard to get better and it is a lot of fun.”

While most of the attention has been focused on the action on the water, as ever the shoreside made its own contribution to the ClubSwan Racing atmosphere. A major highlight of the social scene was the Owners’ Evening which was held in the historic and famed location of the 300-year-old Gordiola glass blowing factory, whose architecture is inspired by the Castle of Perpignan, and is a candidate for UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Summing up the season at the celebratory Prize-Giving on Sunday evening, Nautor Group President Leonardo Ferragamo said, “This event marks the conclusion of a Nations League season which has seen friendly and competitive racing merged with the lifestyle and friendship at the heart of the Swan family experience.

“As ever the Real Club Náutico de Palma has been the perfect host allowing us to celebrate the season to date which has been full of so many special events.”

Head of Sport Activities Federico Michetti added: “This has been another exceptional year for ClubSwan Racing and I would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to all the owners, their friends, partners and crews who have done so much to make it so special.

“We have all been privileged to have been able to compete is so many welcoming venues, here now in Palma de Mallorca, and earlier in the season in Scarlino, Bonifacio, Alghero and Porto Cervo. Their contribution has been fantastic, as has the ongoing support of our partners Rolex, Porsche, Randstad, Henri Lloyd and Banor. Together we have made it happen.”

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