Rebuild better

Not many yachts can claim to have ‘co-founded’ an iconic annual international racing spectacle. But in 1981 when the American-owned Swan 44 Pride challenged the 12 Metre Ikra to a match race in St Tropez that is exactly what happened… first with the wonderful Nioulargue, and later with its multi-faceted offspring, Les Voiles de St Tropez. More recently the Pride story acquired yet another chapter to add to the already 50-year tale

Pride: a journey through time, tradition and technology
As described in the Finest Vintage of All in Seahorse 526 and 527, the Nioulargue (and now Les Voiles de St Tropez) is among Europe’s most historic and fun regattas, attracting the crème de la crème of the sailing world for one final summer regatta. In those recent features Seahorse explored the rich history and founding of the Nioulargue, a narrative steeped in the camaraderie, challenge and spirit that defines the essence of regatta sailing.

A significant chapter in this story belongs to Pride, whose legacy from the regatta’s inception to its contemporary resurgence encapsulates a journey of passionate stewardship, design evolution and an abiding love for one of Europe’s most celebrated sailing traditions.

An American grand prix racer
A Sparkman & Stephens-designed Swan 44, Pride was built by Nautor in Pietarsaari in 1973 for Dick and Celia Jayson. Based out of Riverside Yacht Club in Connecticut, Pride campaigned as a modern grand prix racer of the era, winning Newport to Bermuda among other major races.

She was subsequently invited to the inaugural Swan World Cup in Porto Cervo in 1980, finishing second out of 115; she then won the event in 1982. However, it was in September 1981, when Dick and Celia were in St Tropez and met Patrice de Colmont – the owner of a small beach shanty named Club 55 – that the history of the Nioulargue began.

Twenty-two years after her previous appearance and exactly 42 years after her match race against the 12 Metre Ykra that started it all, Pride mixes it with the best of them – of all ages and types – at last year’s Voiles de St Tropez. Less of a re-enactment and more of a tribute (above) to how the legend of the Nioulargue first came about in 1981, when two yacht owners simply decided to have a race

On that sandy beach De Colmont brokered a simple two-boat race between the Jaysons’ Pride and the visiting 12 Metre Ykra. The race was quick and dirty, but one thing led to another, and a dockside, rosé-laced challenge magically became a unique new regatta: La Nioulargue.

With a new home and great friends, the black Swan remained in St Tropez, a firsthand witness to the regatta’s tremendous growth. Dick Jayson raced the boat until 1995, but age and health began to take their toll on both the owner and the boat.

Pride remained on the hard in Cogolin for nearly a decade, only racing in the 20th anniversary of the regatta in 2001, helmed by Dick’s son, Bill Jayson, with the original crew. Nobody could have imagined it then, but Pride would not compete again in St Tropez for a further 22 years.

In 2006 the new heroes in the Pride story, Alfonso Vesentini and Livio Nardo, emerged. The two Italians wrote an openhearted love letter to Bill Jayson, expressing their passion for their classic yacht and its legacy. The boat sold quickly, and Alfonso and Livio took Pride to Venice, where they began an extensive two-year overhaul.

Within their own facilities and leveraging Alfonso’s architectural expertise, they completely replaced the nearly 40-year-old teak deck and engine while adding cruising concessions including a bow thruster and new deck hardware. Pride found her lovely new base in the Adriatic, home to dozens of wonderfully restored ocean-racing classics, and the setting for numerous famous races like the Barcolana in Trieste and Veleziana in Venice. By now well into her thirties and early forties, Pride lived the good life in Caorle, Italy and often also cruised across to Croatia and Greece.

In 2011, for the 30th anniversary of the regatta, an attempt was made to return Pride to St Tropez for a reunion race with Ikra, her 12 Metre nemesis and ‘event’ co-founder. Bill Jayson, his daughter Gillian and soon-to-be son-in-law, Will Graves, were to race aboard Pride with both boats sailed by as many original team members as were able. Sadly, a mistral prevented Pride from making it around Italy on that trip; instead Will and Bill joined the crew of Ikra for the Club 55 celebratory race.

While most of the yacht is true to the original, there was no reason not to bring Pride’s sailplan up to date, replacing a 1970s masthead rig with a taller fractional sailplan. As well as improving light-air and reaching performance a fractional rig better suits a yacht of this era with its typically slender ends. Fortunately for those who have to sail the boat, humongous 170% IOR genoas are now replaced by tall non-overlapping IRC jibs

From that moment Will and Gillian, like Dick and Celia some 30 years earlier, fell in love with St Tropez, even more so with the magnificence of what had become Les Voiles and the unique international camaraderie it enjoys.

In the ensuing decade Will raced on other Les Voiles boats and crewed with Bill on a few Club 55 winners, but the question was always asked: where is Pride? Will and Gillian were increasingly becoming moved by how friends in St Tropez and the Société Nautique Yacht Club itself always referenced the boat and its legendary history.

After Les Voiles 2021 Will and Gillian began to hear rumblings that Pride might be for sale again. They reached out to Alfonso, enquiring about the boat’s future. For their 10th wedding anniversary they decided to travel to Caorle, visit Italy, and see the boat (also bailing Will out, as he hadn’t planned anything else!).

Alfonso was a perfect host, cruising them around the local waters and supplying wonderful meals and wines. The boat was surveyed. Pride’s now 49-year-old rig was absolutely at the end of its life, and her rudder structure quite rotted. She could not sail ‘home’ to St Tropez as hoped, but the decision was still made to bring her back into her original family…

The Graves purchased Pride in January 2023 with a mission to get her to the starting line in St Tropez in October.

A massive overhaul
Her ‘new’ owners then considered a number of architects and engineers to overhaul Pride, but with Alfonso’s magnanimous assistance and insights they chose Italy’s Cossutti-Ganz design team. Cossutti’s previous work with Swan modernisations, like the Swan 38 Mascalzone Latino for Vincenzo Onorato, was spect - acular and led to a Swan Cup victory.

While Will is an America’s Cup veteran, an engineer and a US Naval Academy (Annapolis) graduate, he also knew that Pride was going to be a challenging project to manage from 4,000 miles away in Connecticut. The timeline was short and only an exceptional team would be able to meet it.

The first meeting with the Cossutti design team was at the Marina Sant’ - Andrea, the regional Swan service yard on the Adriatic, in January 2023. The design team included Maurizio Cossutti, Enrico Burello, an engineer at Cossutti Design, and Steve Benjamin, Olympic medalist and multiple sailing world champion.

‘Benj’ is also a longtime friend of Will and the Jaysons and greatly respected both the boat’s heritage and the challenge of such an important but difficult project. Alfonso, local to the yard, and his longtime sailing friends Alfredo Longhetto and Claudia Rasoli were also crucial contributors who helped bridge a 4,000-mile – and language – gap over the life of the project.

Working with Fortunato Moratto’s team at Marina Sant’Andrea, they developed the primary goals for the refit:

• A safer, easier-to-sail yacht, leveraging modern technologies. Pride had to win at Les Voiles, while looking glamorous of course, but still be able to cruise with the Graves with their three young boys.
• A new mast, without the legacy complications of runners, would also simplify the rather complex original shroud arrangement, offering cleaner decks and ease in sail handling.
• Exploration of asymmetric sails for ease of use, but only if speed could be comparable for a boat that many considered a wobbly ‘runner’, like so many yachts of the IOR heydays in the 1970s. The deck design must then be re-evaluated for optimal work processes with a different sail arrangement.
• Complete overhaul of infrastructure, including all water, electrical, plumbing and electronic systems.

Cossutti’s process was intensive and thorough. A complete digital scan of the hull and deck was completed to generate the 3D computer files necessary for VPP performance analysis and deck modelling for hardware position and line routeing.

Aloft
Cossutti felt that the flexibility of a modern fractional sailplan fitted well with the legacy hull design of the Swan 44 with its low volumes in the ends. Cossutti recalled Ron Holland’s similarly narrow-ended 3/4 Ton designs in the 1970s, and extended this principle to his recent IOR ‘trans - formations’ within modern racing fleets.

The ‘new’ Pride team decided on a fractional, carbon mast 2.5m taller than the original, with swept-back spreaders and non-overlapping jibs… welcomed by the older crew members who recalled tacking a massive 170% IOR genoa. As a result, upwind sail area was reduced from 125 to 114m2, but with greater efficiency driven by the higher aspect ratio sailplan.

Initial VPP results and rating vs performance analysis were encouraging. Even better, it was found that the aft-most chainplates could be reused for the new combined V1+D1 chainplates, dispensing with four sets of now redundant chainplates for the original twin fore-and-aft D1s. The matching modified internal structure was verified with FEA analysis and the whole assembly reinforced with carbon fibre, concealed beneath mirrorpolished stainless-steel chainplates.

Encouraged by the weight savings aloft, Will decided to go all in on a complete carbon package for the standing rigging too. After careful evaluation Pauger of Hungary was selected as mast manufacturer, based on experience, technical prowess… and their confidence in delivering the project much faster than rivals!

Downwind
The downwind sailplan was the subject of great discussion. Rather unexpectedly Cossutti’s simulations demonstrated that even with Pride’s rather heavy weight (but relatively low wetted area) large gennakers could drive this pure displacement boat well, even deep downwind.

The new masthead gennaker is 200m² tacked onto a modest 0.5m bowsprit. Initially the plan was to ‘keep it simple’ with asymmetric-only sails in 2023 and develop new symmetrical sails for 2024. But the boat’s downwind speed at Les Voiles was so strong that the symmetrical designs will remain on the shelf. The days of lazy sheets and guys and dip-pole gybing – like Ikra – will remain something in Pride’s history.

Sail design
Working with Benjamin, the Graves chose North’s top-of-the-line 3Di RAW and Endurance upwind sails, a Helix code zero furling gennaker and asymmetrical spinnakers. With the mast being transported separately from the yacht, North could not physically measure the boat to generate an Electronic Measurement Form, a key input into the rig model in the North design program, DesMan. Instead, the sails were created around the human expertise of designer Glenn Cook, in Marblehead, MA.

As the sailplan and deck plan iterated their way forward in Italy, from manual calculations Glenn prepared initial sail designs using Spiral, another specialised North program. From there the material composition and 3Di tape layout were defined using North MemBrain to adjust for mast properties and produce the final sail moulds. North also worked closely with Pauger to optimise mast stiffness and weight to suit the overall package.

Foils: what’s old is new
A tireless competitor, Dick Jayson always sought to optimise Pride. In the 1970s the Swan 44 was already a standout yacht, yet rule changes and increasing competition demanded continual improvement. Sailors had noted weaknesses in the original design, particularly when steering the Swan 44 in strong winds when maintaining upwind speed could also be a challenge, due to what was believed to be a too-small keel area.

To address these perceived flaws renowned spar engineer Scott Kaufmann, a one-time alumnus of S&S, was tasked with some wider design modifications.

Over the years many of the Swan 44s were steadily altered to maintain their competitiveness under IOR. These included deepening the keel, increasing its lateral area and, most dramatic, pushing the rudder well aft to improve handling, plus removing most of the original skeg.

However, Dick Jayson was not one to follow a crowd. Instead he sought a unique approach by engaging Johan Valentijn, later the designer behind the 12 Metre Liberty, who agreed with moving the rudder aft but suggested retaining a significant part of the skeg in front. (Many years later Valentijn’s suggestions – which were never executed – closely matched the results of Scott Kaufmann’s more modern analysis.)

Valentijn’s changes involved attaching a large aluminium frame to the stern area of the hull, filling the large voids with expanding foam then laminating over them before fairing and repainting. The result was a classic IOR ‘bustle’.

However, 45-plus years later, surveys indicated that much of the rudder had, in fact, corroded and, upon further inspection, much of the adjacent aluminium frame and foam had also rotted away, a resulting ingress of seawater adding hundreds of kilos in the stern. A great deal of extra remedial work was now required.

Over the course of the IOR era Pride’s rudder grew in plan and moved steadily aft, indicated by the grey and black areas above. But when Cossutti drew today’s high-aspect blade he found the best place to put it was exactly where S&S had sited the original stock over 50 years earlier…

Meanwhile, Cossutti’s latest analysis also indicated that a rudder moved forward, this time closer to the keel, might reduce local interference effects and offer better control by leveraging the hull’s end plate effect on the top of the fin. Consequently the team decided to move the rudder forward to its original location, as intended by the legends at S&S, adding just a small skeg with a high-aspect spade rudder!

Funnily enough, the new rudder and structure also proved a perfect match for the original steering arrangement, connecting seamlessly to the original steering pedestal.

Despite the complexity of many of the changes deemed necessary, in the final analysis the team’s goals had brought the yacht’s stern and transom lines closer than ever to the original S&S design of 1973!

Modern 3D scanning technology had allowed for the seamless integration of old and new design, simplifying the application of new fairings and expediting the modification process. It also confirmed that the wise heads at Sparkman & Stephens’ New York offices had got it right in the first place.

Electronics and infrastructure
Unsurprisingly, the survey had also indicated that much of Pride’s plumbing, water and electrical systems were approaching dangerous operational condition. Thus the boat was gutted from stem to stern, and Sailmon brought in to provide a complete replacement of the electronics package, resulting in an ultra-modern new navigational, communication and analytics system. However, the deployment of this entirely new electrical system took an incredibly long time on account of the extreme narrowness of a typical 1970s design in the stern and cockpit areas.

Rapid transformation
The latest renovations on Pride began in February 2023, with the goal of launching her in July in the Adriatic Sea to sail to St Tropez, where her arrival was eagerly anticipated by race organisers to mark her 50-year birthday with the running of the first true Club 55 Cup since the 1990s. The incredible organisers at the Société Nautique had even put Pride on the cover of the 2023 regatta programme – somehow including a Dennis Conner-led afterguard!!

However, the final weeks turned into a frantic effort to complete the boat, with additional professionals and experts flying in from the States and Europe in a desperate effort to complete the mission. Swan Global Services, showing remarkable support for a 50-year-old product, also flew in their best engineers from Barcelona to evaluate the stumbling blocks and recommend time-saving solutions.

In the end, however, instead of setting sail, Pride, showcasing her new shiny black finish, was transported on a truck across Italy from San Giorgio di Nogaro to Genova for her final assembly. There she was met by a team including Steve Benjamin, Patrick Gavin-Byrnes, Jenny Cahalan, Peter Tans, Joshua Burns, Will and Gillian who together raced to install the mast and rigging and conduct IRC/ORC measurements, including 14 new sails.

The first sea trial occurred on 10 September, followed by a ‘romantic’ two-day cruise to St Tropez by Will and Gillian. The design team eagerly awaited feedback and were thrilled to receive the first images of Pride entering St Tropez Bay, handling 30kt upwind in a mistral with ease, with just the pair of them aboard, short-tacking up the sea wall under full main and jib.

But this was just the beginning. The real test came during the regatta with Pride pitted against a fleet of modern, wellprepared rivals. Despite facing minor issues, including an over-zealous autohelm – affectionately referred to as the ‘ghost of Dick’ – and being the slowest-rated boat in the class in a week of dying afternoon breezes, Pride showed promising speed, finished sixth among 27 boats in the competitive IRC B class. In the last race, her sixth day of racing, she missed victory by just 17 seconds.

But much more important, and a testament to everyone involved, Pride not only sailed well but represented her heritage flawlessly, with her beautiful glossy black hull at the dock amid all the glamour of the modern Wallys, Maxis and, of course, the priceless Spirit of Tradition yachts.

When an original crew from the 1980s team remarked that Pride ‘had never looked this good back then’, during one of the nightly rosé parties onboard, the large extended group of friends, family and dock onlookers erupted in loud cheers.

As promised, the original 1981 challenge race – the Club 55 Cup – was also rerun on a beautiful St Tropez morning. Pride won the start after aggressively match-racing her far larger, 12 Metre sister, crossing Ikra three times up the first beat before the 63ft 12 Metre’s greater waterline – with speed targets some 2kt faster than the 44ft Swan – eventually muscled past.

Perhaps the greatest highlight of the week was the teams’ arrival at Club 55 after the race, where Patrice de Colmont, the regatta’s founder and patron saint, greeted Will and Gillian at the end of the dock as they stepped off the club launch. As the couple walked across the sand to another epic post-race party, they were surrounded by a living tunnel of clapping, cheering crew members and friends of all ages from both Pride and Ikra.

Pride’s revival is a testament to the love of tradition, the pursuit of excellence and the spirit of adventure and friendship that defines the essence of sailing and, especially, Les Voiles de St Tropez. That shared history is the ‘pride’ of many across generations. As Will remarked at the awards ceremony, our team is ‘only standing on the shoulders of the fun-loving legends before us’. Legends like Patrice, Jean Laurain and Dick Jayson and all of those who sailed with them.

Looking ahead to this summer, Pride is currently dry-docked in St Tropez. It was made obvious that Pride had returned to her spiritual home when at Monaco Marine outside St Tropez, and paying her first ‘modern’ yard bill, Will noticed a 40-year-old half model of Pride hanging above the desk of project manager Florent Dauphin… a gift from Dick Jayson to the same yard many moons ago.

This winter Pride is undergoing extensive keel fairing and addressing a comprehensive to-do list to ensure she is prepared for a full programme of racing, including the 2024 Swan Cup, several classic Swan rendez vous, potentially participating in the Giraglia Race, enjoying some cruising, and of course returning to ‘that one particular harbour’ – so far, but yet so near for the Jaysons and Graves – in St Tropez in October.

Meanwhile, Maurizio and Cossutti-Ganz Yacht Design are busy on another not-dissimilar project, reviving a famous old Italian IOR Admiral’s Cupper, a type that remains rather popular in our country, especially in the ‘IOR’s Adriatic heartland’ around Trieste.

And the Graves? Well, Cossutti and team look forward to a happy future continuing our work together in Pride’s exemplary evolution as an incredible example of traditional beauty and design, married with modern technology and innovation, to create a boat that will long preserve its legacy at the Nioulargue, and now Les Voiles de St Tropez. Today perhaps more than ever, among Europe’s finest regattas.

Maurizio Cossutti, Will Graves, Nicola Brollo and Steve Benjamin