Takashi Okura’s TP52 Sled team crowned 2021’s 52 SUPER SERIES champions and Rolex TP52 World Champions Saturday in Palma, Mallorca.
Holding a lead of one single point on both championships scoreboard’s they had a nervous wait ashore Saturda until scheduled racing had to be finally cancelled because of gale force Mistral winds on the Bay of Palma.
The closest season yet with five leading boats arriving in Palma last week within four points of each other, on Friday the foreshortened three event circuit went right to the wire.
But a substantial win in what proved to be the breezy final race of the season proved conclusive, allowing Mr Okura’s crew to run out with a winning margin of just one point ahead of four times 52 SUPER SERIES champions, Doug DeVos’ Quantum Racing.
Third overall for the season, two tantalising points behind, was Harm Müller Spreer’s Platoon which has been overall runners up three times.
Theirs is a popular victory for a hugely experience team which represents the New York Yacht Club but which is a potent, truly multicultural mix.
They included veteran America’s Cup winning New Zealanders such as Don Cowie, mainsheet trimmer and project manager, five times America’s Cup winner Murray Jones as helmsman and NZ’s youthful Finn Olympic ace and more recent Cup winner Josh Junior.
Their overall victory required them to overcome successive crew line-up changes imposed by travel restrictions. All of their core Japanese sailors had to miss the second regatta and substitutes found.
Usual Australian ace Adam Beashel called tactics for the first regatta win in Puerto Portals in August but Italian Francesco Bruni then had to step in cold when Beashel could not travel for the second and third events.
52 SUPER SERIES 2021 Standings after two regattas and 8 races in Palma
1st Sled 74, points
2nd Quantum Racing 75pts
3rd Platoon, 76 pts
4th Phoenix 79 pts
5th Alegre 85 pts
6th Bronenosec 94 pts
7th Provezza 110 pts
8th Interlodge 123 pts
9th Gladiator 142 pts
ROLEX TP52 World Championship RCNP 2021 after 8 races
1st Sled (7,2,5,1,6,1,7,1) – – 30 pts
2nd Quantum Racing (4,5,3,4,5,7,1,2) – – 31 pts
3rd Platoon (3,3,4,8,2,2,3,6) – -31pts
4th Phoenix (1,1,6,7,3,3,6,5) – – 32 pts
5th Alegre (5,9,1,10,1,5,8,3) – – 42 pts
6th Bronenosec Gazprom (2,8,9,2,4,8,2,8) – – 43 pts
7th Interlodge (9,4,7,5,8,6,5,9) – – 53 pts
8th Provezza (10,7,2,9,9,4,9,4) – – 54 pts
9th Gladiator (8,10,8,3,10,9,4,7) – – 59 pts
10th Code Zero (6,6,10,6,7,10,10,dnf) – – 66 pts
RSS – Posts