52 SUPER SERIES – Porto Cervo – Range Rover DAY 2
Takashi Okura’s Sled lead the 52 SUPER SERIES – Porto Cervo – Range Rover regatta after the first two windward leeward races. With Italy’s Francesco Bruni calling tactics, aided by six times America’s Cup winner Murray Jones, owner Okura steered Sled to a fourth and a second to earn a one point margin over Hasso and Tina Plattner’s Phoenix which welcomes Tom Slingsby back as tactician, sailing with fellow Aussie gold medallist Will Ryan.
After winning Race 1 of the regatta Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon Aviation were denied the chance to complement that victory with another strong score, when they were struck by Gladiator during the starting sequence to Race 2 which was subsequently recalled. The 2023 champions Platoon had to return to the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda dock with a crew injury, and to effect composite repairs to their starboard aft quarter. They receive average points, 6.5 in the 13 boat fleet, and lie third overall.
Racing in a building W’ly breeze which topped 18kts in the second race it was the French team on Paprec which made the best start to the first race to lead down the first run. The French and German crews fought round the track and were still close at the final windward turn but Platoon Aviation, led by tactician Vasco Vascotto, found more breeze on the final sprint and just pipped Paprec to second at the finish line.
In the second race a start off the pin end of the line was the foundation for a good race win for Shawn and Tina Kang’s Hong Kong crew on Alpha +. After a 13th in the first race Alpha + held off the challenge from Sled whilst Andy Soriano’s Alegre took third.
2025 circuit leaders American Magic Quantum Racing, with Doug DeVos steering this week, made a relatively modest start with a 10th and eighth. In the first race they recovered from the back of the fleet on the first upwind to be up to fifth on the final run, but then dropped places into the finish. And in the second heat they were overlapped with Alpha + at the first top mark, sharing the lead, but lost positions in the highly competitive fleet which is very keyed up for this finale to the season, as could be seen on the start lines.
Owner-driver DeVos remarked, “It was a tough day out there but that is what this class is. It is a reminder how close this racing is but it was great to be out there fighting for every position. We learned we need to get better. We had some good moments where we were moving through the fleet in good positions, we got round the top mark in first but to then finish where we did (eighth) really hurt. We learn that we have to better on all aspects, you cannot just have one aspect working at a time.”
Sled’s tactician Bruni reported, “We had two good races today, we were not particularly good on the starts, but we went well after that. The boat is going fast, especially upwind. I am happy with the way the team is sailing, especially Mr Okura who steps onto the boat at the last minute and is doing a fantastic job steering. And so we had two good clean races, we had a few moments where we just crossed some boats, but the luck was on our side today.”
Platoon Aviation’s Víctor Mariño explained: “The collision occurred during a tight start by the pin end of the line. Gladiator tried to squeeze into a space which wasn’t really there and hooked our stern with her bowsprit. It broke part of the stern structure of the boat. The bowsprit hit Gerdy (Gerd Haberdmuller) in the ribs, but fortunately as far as we know it was only a bruise. As for the boat the shore team will have a long night ahead of them.”
52 SUPER SERIES-Porto Cervo-Range Rover Leaderboard
1. Sled, USA, Takashi Okura, 4+2= 6
2. Phoenix, RSA, Tina & Hasso Plattner, 3+4= 7
3. Platoon Aviation, GER, Harm Müller-Spreer, 1+6,5(RDG)= 7,5
4. Alegre, GBR, Andy Soriano, 6+3= 9
5. Paprec, FRA, Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 2+9 = 11
6. Alpha+, HKG, Shawn & Tina Kang, 13+1= 14
7. Provezza, TUR, Ergin Imre, 11+5= 16
8. Crioula, BRA, Eduardo & Renato Plass, 5+11= 16
9. Gladiator, GBR, Tony Langley, 7+6(+3)= 16
10. Alkedo, ITA, Andrea Lacorte, 8+7 = 16
11. American Magic Quantum Racing, USA, Doug DeVos, 10+8 = 18
12. Vayu, THA, Whitcraft Family, 8+10= 18
13. Teasing Machine, FRA, Eric de Turckheim, 12+12= 24
