DAY 4 – Puerto Calero Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup
Three times winners of the event’s major trophy, Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon Aviation have now built a solid seven points lead at the Puerto Calero Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup after posting two second places today.
Starting the third day of racing pegged on even points with Ergin Imre’s Provezza, Platoon’s scoreline contrasts favourably with the Turkish flagged team’s first and 10th today, while on the season standings the German winners of the circuit in 2023 are now tied on the same overall aggregate as Sled who have led since the end of the first regatta of the season in early May in Mallorca.
Provezza won the first race of the day, contested in 15-16kts of breeze with an awkward choppy swell. They were quick away from a good start to gain control of the fleet. But their start on the second race was not so good and they fought in the pack, sliding backwards to a weighty 10th, their worst score so far this week.
Sled nailed the start, showing good speed off the line to chase early leader, Joakim Sundberg’s Trinity Racing round the first windward mark. Sled made the better choice at the leeward gate and were able to lead up the second beat. Twice Platoon made sizeable gains on the downwinds by holding left, hooking into a stronger vein of pressure. On the final run they were overhaul Trinity to steal another second.
Their first win of the regatta saw the Sled team return to Puerto Calero Marina in a more buoyant mood after a tough opening to this second Lanzarote event in a row.
“We had a better day with nice starts and picking nice windshifts.” Smiled Don Cowie, Sled’s project manager and mainsheet trimmer, “We sailed well on that first beat and generally it seems like if you can get around that top mark in first you can stay there. We had a nice puff away from the top mark and that allowed us to extend. It is shifty and puffy, you are going through a six or seven knot wind range. There is a lot of gear changing. It has been tough these last few days but, look, we are a strong team we have had conversations and debriefed, we recognised we were not starting well enough. We did no do a good job as a team. But there are four races to go here and a long way to go for the season yet. People are sailing well and are just going to keep getting better. We will keep chipping away.”
Vasco Vascotto, tactician on Platoon Aviation is pleased at how the team is going but knows how quickly fortunes pivot in this fleet.
“Today we made the right choices and the important thing in this breeze is we are choosing and the others are not choosing for us. We are sailing well, but this is one day, only one day.”
The Whitcraft family’s Vayu remain consistent holding on to third place overall, just two points ahead of Trinity Racing and three ahead of Sled and Crioula.
Puerto Calero Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup Standings after six races
1. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 6+2+6+1+2+2 = 19
2. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 1+7+2+5+1+10 = 26
3. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+3+9+3+8+8 = 33
4. Trinity Racing (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 10+6+3+7+6+3 = 35
5. Sled, Takashi Okura, 4+10+5+11+5+1 = 36
6. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 7+4+4+6+11+4 = 36
7. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 5+8+11+9+4+5 = 42
8. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 11+1+8+10+7+6 = 43
9. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 9+11+1+4+9+12 = 46
10. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 3+12+7+8+10+7 = 47
11. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 8+5+12+2+12+11 = 50
12. Alkedo Cetilar (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 12+9+10+12+3+9 = 55
13. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 14(DNS)+14(DNS)+14(DNS)+14(DNS)+14(DNS)+14(DNS) = 84
52 SUPER SERIES 2026 Standings after six races at Regatta 4 of 5
1. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 51+53+33+19 = 156
2. Sled, Takashi Okura, 42+47+31+36 = 156
3. Alkedo Cetilar (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 58+56+26+55 = 195
4. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 72+61+24+46 = 203
5. Trinity Racing (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 73+49+46+35 = 203
6. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 67+55+49+43 = 214
7. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 52+69+44+50 = 215
8. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 56+71+62+26 = 215
9. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 59+76+66+36 = 237
10. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 86+73+55+33 = 247
11. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 90+72+50+42 = 254
12. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 59+88+91+47 = 285
13. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 83+82+70+84 = 319
