After three races contested in very varied offshore wind conditions on the waters off Valencia’s famous Malvarrosa Beach three teams go into the final day shoot out for the 2024 circuit title with just four points separating first and third.

With Gladiator arriving into the Valencia 52 Super Series Royal Cup with an 18 points lead over Quantum Racing powered by American Magic, and 28 ahead of defending champions Platoon Aviation, tonight it is Doug De Vos’s US team which now leads into the last day of the season with just two points in hand over Langley and his 2024 world champion crew and four points on Harm Müller-Spreer’s 2023 circuit champions.
With Morgan Larson steering, Victor Diaz de Leon as tactician working with Nevin Snow as strategist, Quantum Racing powered by American Magic aggregated 16 points over the three races, slightly bettered by Platoon’s 15, but with the British boat languishing in 10th tonight after netting a total of 30 points today, it is all but even going into a Saturday showdown which could still yield three races.

Guille Parada Gladiator’s helm was not happy with their performance: “I think we sailed poorly and did not make good decisions or sail the boat well and the results are showing that. None of that in terms of the result is a surprise in the sense that we knew the breeze would be unstable which would be complicated for us. So we need to reset ourselves for tomorrow. It is very close for the overall and we have a real chance of winning this. Tomorrow is another day with the a northeasterly breeze which suits out style a lot better. We will go and give it our all and hopefully we can win.
Today it was blowing off the land, it was puffy, shifty, unsteady. We did not do a good job racing in these conditions in terms of tactics, strategy. My starts were nothing sharp either nor the boat handling so in general we did not do a good job at all. The results are a consequence of the way we sail and it is nothing to regret about it, it is what it is. The only thing we can do is resent ourselves and go and win the season.
We should see 10-13kts, northeasterlies, which will be a little more stable. It will suit our style a lot better. We need to bring our best version of ourselves and make sure we make it happen.”

Offshores=tricky, tricky, tricky

Today’s races were again sailed in very testing offshore winds which started out at over 22kts for the first contest which was won by Provezza. The second windward-leeward again saw big shifts, gusts and lulls and Tak Okura’s Sled winning in breezes to 12 kts, whilst in the third it was the Brasilian team on Crioula take their first ever race win after only joining the circuit in Puerto Portals last month. In the Royal Cup regatta standings they are up to third behind Provezza and Platoon Aviation.

The breezes were hard to read at times. Crioula went from 12th or 13th on the first upwind to lead the second race by the bottom of the run, finishing second. And the wind faded quickly in the final contest to the point that the course was shortened at the windward mark just before it evaporated entirely.

A more stable northeasterly is forecast for Saturday which should be more predictable and certainly make hard won early leads easier to maintain and reduce the passing lane options. That Platoon Aviation lie second in the Royal Cup regatta standings certainly reflects how Vasco Vascotto, their tactician, likes the shifty, dynamic conditions which really don’t suit the Gladiator modus operandi which is very much about starting at one end of the start line and picking a side, using their good boat speed to stay out of the traffic and potential trouble.

Vasco Vascotto, Platoon Aviation’s tactician smiled. “I feel we are so lucky to be in this position going into the last day even if we are still behind. The advantage is with the boats who are on top but for me the advantage is being just a little behind, maybe we will have some options. The new breeze direction will make things a little more even. I prefer the land breeze where we can have some tiki taka as I call it. We are happy. If we are not happy right now we would have a bad life ahead of us!. We lost a lot of points at the beginning of the season so we will see now. But we are already looking at next season.” 

And on board Quantum Racing powered by American Magic, the hugely experienced Larson is a steadying influence as helm and might yet make the circuit winning difference at just the right time.

Skipper Victor Diaz de Leon, summarised. “Our goal was to be having a chance to in the season going into the last event of the season and here we are with a chance going into the last day with that chance so I am super proud of the team. I think we have achieved. It is hard to think that this will be the last day of the season. I have loved being with Quantum Racing it has been so special.”

And double Olympian Sam Albrecht the tactician on Criouala enthused,  “We were lucky but today was very, very shifty. But our team worked very hard and the results are very special it is a great day for us. We just tried to keep the boat fast all the time. The main thing was using the shifts and being on good angles all the time. Tomorrow is tomorrow, right now we enjoy today.”

Racing is programmed to start at 1200hrs Saturday, follow the racing live on all the 52 SUPER SERIES channels.

VALENCIA 52 SUPER SERIES ROYAL CUP STANDINGS
1. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 4+2+1+1+10+7 = 25   
2. PLATOON AVIATION (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 8+1+2+4+7+4 = 26      
3. CRIOULA (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 6+8+10+2+2+1 = 29 
4. PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso y Tina Plattner, 1+11+5+7+6+6 = 36
5. TEASING MACHINE (FRA), Eric De Turckheim, 3+13+4+12+3+3 = 38
6. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 9+3+7+3+13+5+5 = 40 
7. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 11+6+9+5+9+2 = 42
8. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin & Gwen Fragomen, 7+9+3+8+8+8 = 43 
9. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 2+5+13+10+4+11+9 = 45    
10. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 12+4+6+9+12+9 = 52  
11. VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 5+12+11+6+5+13 = 52 
12. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 13+7+8+13+1+12 = 54    
13. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 10+10+12+11+11+10 = 64

2024 Circuit Standings
1 Quantum Racing powered by American Magic 202 pts
2 Gladiator 204 pts
3 Platoon Aviation 206pts
4 Sled 242pts
5 Alegre 243pts
6 Interlodge 262pts
7 Paprec 265pts
8 Vayu 281pts
9 Phoenix 282pts
10 Alpha + 282
11 Provezza 319pts
12 Crioula 374pts
13 Teasing Machine 402pts