Tied at the top of the Royal Cup table, Provezza and Platoon Aviation decipher tricky Lanzarote breezes

Two races were sailed today. Winners of the last Lanzarote regatta last month, the French team on Paprec won the first race, pipping Provezza to the line when the course was shortened at the windward mark. Then Platoon Aviation composed an impressive victory in the second windward-leeward to earn their share of the lead.

With the breeze pulsing off the land causing significant changes in pressure and shifts in direction, the left side of the course generally paid but it was essential to change gears as the transitions occurred and keep in phase. It was all too easy to drop into the traffic and lose places.

Circuit leaders Sled had another tough day. After aggregating 14 points on the opening day, the new world champions landed a fifth and an 11th today, seeing their circuit lead now cut to just two points ahead of the German flagged Platoon. They lie 10th in the 13 boat Royal Cup fleet.

Sled’s Italian tactician Francesco Bruni grimaced “We have made a few mistakes here and there, some tactical mistakes, and some situations have not gone our way. The speed of the boat is still good but this particular place is very tricky. Here we are paying a bit of a price. We know that we can come back, we feel like we are a strong team and we have had just a couple of bad days. We need to trust each other as we always have done but it is important we don’t start to change anything much. We how to do it and we have to keep the trust on our side.”

In contrast Platoon Aviation have sailed clean so far and have been quick. They rode the emotional roller coaster on the first race today. They were over the start line of the first race – as were Sled – but had battled back to fifth by the windward mark. But they could not get in to the line up from their port tack approach and had to slide all the way back to 12th. By the end of the run they were back in contention and still came away with a useful sixth.

Victor Marino (ESP) runners on Platoon says, “It looks right now like we are having a better regatta. We have discovered a few things on the boat which have made it quicker, just different things over the year so far. At the same time we have had some good calls and better luck and for sure Vasco and Jordi are really working well together. They are in a good way doing nice work. It is a super difficult race course here but Vasco and Jordi have won here, it is super shifty and so you have to be patient and have your options. The wind is set to increase so we will see if it works as well when the breeze is up.”

Provezza look much more like the class act they have shown themselves to be so many times over the years. Ironically both leading teams were most affected by spinnaker damages at last month’s Marina Rubicon regatta, losing 11 sails between them.

Cole Parada (ARG) tactician on Provezza acknowledged “We have had a couple of tough events back to back. We had many debriefs and lots of things to work on. We knew that the results were not as bad as the results were showing. We kept together. We changed how we are communicating at the starts, we changed the system a bit. So we are starting better and that was a team effort. Everything is asier when you start at the front of the pack. We are quick up wind in these conditions, let’s see when the breeze increases. We have improved and the team morale is up.”

The Whitcraft family’s Vayu – leaders after Day 1 – continue to shine in the light conditions holding third overall just two points behind Provezza and Platoon Aviation.

Puerto Calero Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup standings after four races
1. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 1+7+2+5 = 15
2. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 6+2+6+1 = 15
3. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+3+9+3 = 17
4. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 7+4+4+6 = 21
5. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 9+11+1+4 = 25 
6. Trinity Racing (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 10+6+3+7 = 26
7. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 8+5+12+2 = 27
8. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 11+1+8+10 = 30
9. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 3+12+7+8 = 30
10. Sled, Takashi Okura, 4+10+5+11 = 30  
11. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 5+8+11+9 = 33
12. Alkedo Cetilar (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 12+9+10+12 = 43
13. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 14(DNS)+14(DNS)+14(DNS)+14(DNS) = 56

2026 52 SUPER SERIES after day 2 Puerto Calero
1. Sled, Takashi Okura, 42+47+31+30 = 150
2. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 51+53+33+15 = 152 
3. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 72+61+24+25 = 182 
4. Alkedo Cetilar (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 58+56+26+43 = 183 
5. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 52+69+44+27 = 192
6. Trinity Racing (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 73+49+46+26 = 194
7. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 67+55+49+30 = 201
8. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 56+71+62+15 = 204 
9. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 59+76+66+21 = 222 
10. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 86+73+55+17 = 231
11. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 90+72+50+33 = 245 
12. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 59+88+91+30 = 268
13. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 83+82+70+56 = 291