DAY 2 – Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week
Gladiator is a well-known British flagged team owned and backed by successful, popular English businessman Tony Langley. They are part of the Quantum Sails stable and back in 2023 recruited the hugely successful Argentinian ace Guillermo Parada to the team. He led the successful Azzurra program to four 52 SUPER SERIES titles and he brought Azzurra’s Italian navigator Bruno Zirilli. with him. That afterguard set up has proven potent and in 2024 they won the Rolex TP52 World Championship and narrowly missed out on the season title.
Straight away in 2023 Gladiator finished third in Saint Tropez, in Mahon and at the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Barcelona. They missed third overall for the season by just four points. Until 2023 their best season was way back 2017 when they finished the last regatta of the season in second place on countback .
In 2024 they took on a new boat to them, the former Alegre, a move which definitely gave them a step up in performance. With Langley calling tactics and Parada steering they had an exceptional year finishing runners up in Newport at the XS 52 SUPER SERIES Newport RI Trophy regatta before winning the Rolex TP52 World Championship and the Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Regatta.
Indeed going into the final regatta of the season Gladiator were title contenders, going on to finish third for the year just five points off the title.
In 2025 they started strongly winning Saint Tropez but -as always planned – then missed the second regatta due to an historic sailing commitment at home in England. They were eighth in Cascais at the worlds, 11th in Portals and 12th in Porto Cervo, both events marred by penalties.
This year they have lost Ray Davies back to America’s Cup commitments and so they have recruited Victor Diaz de Leon, most recently winning with American Magic Quantum Racing, as strategist to partner Tony as tactician with Guille helming. They have put on a new keel for 2026.
Langley is passionate about the TP52 and at one point ran three at the same time mixing up his team’s programme racing in the USA and at home in England at key, personal favourite events.
Tony loves his sport and must rank as the hardest working owner-drivers in this business!
