Mastering the early light winds might be key to 52 Super Series Palmavela success

52 Super Series PalmaVela Sailing Week © Nico Martinez

Today's two short practice races, the prelude to Sunday's start of the 2024 52 Super Series season at the 52 Super Series PalmaVela Sailing Week, underlined how tricky and testing Mallorca's Bay of Palma can be in early Spring and also how in the unsettled winds and sloppy, choppy seas, any one of the ten TP52 teams could put together a winning series over the coming five days.

With light to moderate breezes from the south east and a bumpy, random sea the biggest test seemed to be keeping moving well upwind and downwind. A wrongly timed tack or gybe could slow a team to a near standstill, whilst conversely a well-placed manoeuvre might yield a definitive gain.

The leaden skies emphasised the lack of the usually reliable Palma sea breeze which is not expected until later in the week. Indeed, for all the tension and excitement built up, the winds look light and fitful Sunday and Monday.

On the first practice race the Whitcraft family's Vayu led ahead of Shawn and Tina Kang's Alpha + whilst on the second short race, also one upwind and one downwind, Tony Langley's new Gladiator - the former Alegre - was comfortably ahead.

Racing is due to start at 1300hrs with all the action streamed live on xxxxx

Aiming for the season opening win, Provezza prepare to get back on their Bay of Palma rollercoaster and hope luck runs with them.

Provezza had a difficult end to the 2023 season. In effect a standing rigging failure at the last regatta of the season saw their handy season lead disappear. They finished second, tied on points, which is still Ergin Imre's team's best ever result at the end of a season, but it was a very bittersweet result.

Yes, they debriefed the season and perhaps it could be argued that a point saved or gained over the course of the five regattas would have tipped the balance in their favour.

But as the 52 SUPER SERIES starts Sunday, the Turkish flagged team are back with even more fire in their belly. And with a new boat coming later in the season, this 52 SUPER SERIES PalmaVela Sailing Week is their final chance to win with a quick, well optimised boat which has served them well since launching in 2018.

After good week of training in Valencia along with Phoenix - which are not racing this week - Spanish navigator Nacho Postigo recalls the pain of missing out, "It's difficult to put it to bed because it's not easy to win the 52 SUPER SERIES. There have not been many boats achieving that and having it within reach of our fingertips and seeing it slip away for an unbelievable breakage, which is very uncommon, that was hard!" Read more....

Clean up

Ocean Diving Spain helped today with a 52 SUPER SERIES underwater clean up in the main harbour beside the STP yard. Two professional divers who volunteer all year round with clean up projects helped. A total of 104 glass bottles were retrieved which are already on their way to being recycled into other products.

And once more at the 52 SUPER SERIES events in Palma or nearby, all the unused food is delivered to Yachting Gives Back who re-distribute it within the City to individuals in need.