‘Gladiator’, first leader of the 52 SUPER SERIES

After a blank opening day due to the lack of wind, the 52 SUPER SERIES PalmaVela Sailing Week hoped that the weather would improve for the second day of the competition programme.

Persistent rain and the absence of breeze on the race course kept the boats at the Real Club Náutico de Palma waiting for conditions to improve, and it was not until 16:30h that the first start of the year would take place. The combination of 8-10 knots of wind and flat seas allowed the curtain to rise on the 2024 season with a good regatta.

The first boat to take to the course was Andy Soriano's ‘Alegre’, one of two new TP52s among the fleet of ten boats of seven nationalities competing for the title in Palma. The battle for the first leg of the course would be fought mainly on the right side of the course and favored Takashi Okura's American ‘Sled’, who took the lead at the first mark of the year, followed by Andy Soriano's British ‘Alegre’ and Austin and Gwen Fragomen's American ‘Interlodge’, on which Barcelona's Carlos Robles was making his debut today as strategist. After a change of course due to wind shifts in the middle of the course, the British ‘Gladiator’ surprised its rivals and took the lead after a spectacular comeback from the last position in which it crossed the starting line and from the penultimate position in which it had started the leg.

Owner Tony Langley's team, who once again relied on the magic of Argentinian helmsman Guillermo Parada and Italian navigator Bruno Zirilli, would not relinquish the lead until they scored the first partial victory of the season and became the first leader of the 52 SUPER SERIES 2024.

Back at the Real Club Náutico de Palma, Guillermo Parada explained the keys to his victory: ‘After a bad start we started the leg behind the fleet, but we recovered quite well. On the first stern we went hard left, which in the end turned out to be a good move. We also had a bit of luck. From then on we just kept Sled downwind. They were a bit faster than us upwind, but on the last downwind we went left again and extended the lead.

Just over half a minute behind the winner, ‘Sled’ crossed the finish line, followed by an exciting finish between ‘Quantum Racing powered by American Magic’ and ‘Platoon Aviation’, which was decided in favour of the American team in Víctor Díaz de León's first race as helmsman.

Langley seems to be starting to get a return on its investment in its new boat, the former ‘Alegre’. According to Parada, it is still too early to draw conclusions: ‘We are still learning how to sail it, but we can already see that we are a little more competitive than with the previous boat in terms of speed, especially on downwind courses’.