The  Persico Marine/Nautor Swan duo, with the fascinating sailboat  the ClubSwan 80, the latest member of the ClubSwan range, a  new “My Song” for the owner  Pierluigi Loro Piana,  win double gold  at the award ceremony Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2023, held in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) in the Best Sections Interior Design and Best Naval Architecture.

The competition is held every year to choose the greatest boats in the world in terms of design and technical innovation, as well as to recognize the research behind each invention and, above all, the experts who transform it into reality.

A success obtained thanks to the exceptional degree of study and invention brought to the boat by the team of builders and designers, both internal and external. Loro Piana, owner of the boat, world-renowned entrepreneur in the high quality woolen fabrics sector, is known in the sailing world as a racer and owner of the My Song series of boats, in particular the Baltic 130,  considered by many to be the most beautiful sailboat in the world, delivered in 2016, it was severely damaged after a disastrous fall into the sea in May 2019 during a storm that carried it to Genoa, recovered a few days after the accident, it was demolished in November 2019 in Palma de Mallorca because it would not be it was cost-effective to repair it.

In an interview with Superyacht Times, Loro Piana commented as follows:

“After losing My Song, I decided to separate the two functions of the boat, racing and cruising, which she had performed perfectly. At the time of the launch I don’t think there was another sailboat with the same level of speed and comfort. But it was also at the limit in terms of size for both racing and cruising, because to race at a high level safely we needed around 30 crew for each race. It was like running a business!”.

So Loro Piana decided to build a pure racing boat, the ClubSwan 80, a sailing yacht 81.30 feet equal to 24.70 meters long, 19.68 feet equal to 6 meters wide with a draft of 15.42 equal feet 4.7 metres, displacement 42,350.8 lbs (19,210 kg), ballast 14,330.5 lbs (6,500 kg), which performs well in regattas and is ideal for a fast cruise with sporty interiors even if in truth it’s not exactly a cruising boat but a large day cruiser that can be sailed with the family when not busy for regattas.

The ClubSwan 80 is the latest member of the ClubSwan range, demonstrating once again that this branch of Nautor’s Swan, the  Italian-Finnish shipyard of the Italian entrepreneur  Leonardo Ferragamo  with CEO Giovanni Pomati,  produces yachts based on the qualities of style, speed , innovation, technology and competitive sailing potential.

The fast, exciting and creative Maxi boat completes the ClubSwan yacht line, joining the compact yet technologically sophisticated ClubSwan 36, with which she shares several handling qualities such as the improved hull shape.

The concept was created with coastal racing, medium range offshore events and the conventional Maxi circuit in mind.

The new  Club Swan 80 ,My Song  was built in collaboration with Persico Marine, a shipyard known for its experience in the production of high performance yachts. The exterior of this luxury yacht was designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, while the interior was done by Nauta Design.

The new Club Swan 80, My Song is a very fast boat that can arrive daily without any particular effort if there is a wind of 25-30 knots This is the fifth boat that Loro Piana has had built from the name My Song, the name of a successful piece of music from 1974 where the owner is very close and loves very much because both when he is sailing and hears this music or when he only hears the music  reminds him of sailing with the feeling  that the two moments  come together.

However, this latest My Song is very different from the others, it is much more  than a racing boat because the owner being more and more passionate about speed and performance, decided to build an 80-foot boat that is very fun to use 90% for regattas and 10% as a very fast day cruiser.

The main technical features of the Club Swan 80, My Song are above all the extractable bowsprit for sailing upwind, the canard for greater upwind, the 38-metre carbon mast lying on the deck and the double rudder for optimal control. The carbon interiors are embellished with wooden components, there are three guest bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and separate shower cubicle. To improve performance during regattas, all the interiors can be dismantled: wardrobes, beds, bedside tables and systems for a total of 700 kg of lightening.

Exciting performance, minimal displacement and low operating expenses make this boat a sailor’s dream. The surprising thing is that My Song managed to win the first regatta with a crew of   inexperienced    on her first competitive voyage. The finish is made all the more jaw-dropping by the fact that it was completed during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, one of the toughest events in the world for big boats.

My Song then finished on the podium again the following week in a packed Swan Cup, proving that this was no fluke.

“Even in the IRC/ORC regattas she proved to be a racing machine,” explains Giovanni Pomati, “The sailing world stood up and noticed when My Song planed in front of bigger boats.” “Personally, I’d like to see at least five ClubSwan 80s racing in the Maxis, which I think is a real possibility over the next few years.”

“The ClubSwan 80 is a One Design and the concept is to have high performance boats that are also the lightest, and from this platform a range of interiors and features can be added,” said Juan K. “We have managed to “balancing performance and comfort depending on the use of the boat working as a team, which is quite exciting. My Song, a carbon fiber fantasia with canted keel and forward rotating canard, was only launched in June.”

“Despite the lack of yacht experience, the guys took first and third place on different days of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup,” said Mario Pedol of Nauta Design. “We couldn’t be happier!”

Pier Luigi Loro Piana, entrepreneur and successful sailor, is enthusiastic about My Song: “This boat has been a labor of love that lasted three years”. There hasn’t been a single day that you haven’t been intimately involved in the project. To step aboard this magnificent boat is a pleasure in and of itself, but to score two podium finishes in our first few races shows that there is huge potential here.”