Commanding Platoon wins Rolex Tp52 Worlds

by Quinag Communication on 22 May 2017 The 2017 Rolex TP52 Worlds were won by Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon from Germany. In some respects, they made it look easy, never seeming to put a foot wrong and winning by a seven-point margin from Quantum Racing. This is not even half the story. Müller-Spreer’s reaction to the victory pointed to the effort it had taken to finish top of the ten-boat fleet: “It means a lot. This regatta is so hard to win. I’ve been sailing for more than forty years, but this is a different level.”

The Rolex TP52 Worlds is part of the 52 Super Series, the elite of yacht-racing circuits. 2017 marks the first year of its partnership with Rolex. Competing teams bear comparison with the highest levels of other professional sports which marry human and technical performance. The crews are the very best and to perform consistently well at a pinnacle event, the five-day Rolex TP52 World Championship, they require leadership and support that is just as committed, just as professional.

The Event to Win

Prior to the regatta, Niklas Zennström, a former world champion in the TP52 and the Mini Maxi classes and whose Ran Racing would end the event in sixth, said of the Rolex TP52 World Championship: “This is the regatta of the year to be really good, this is the one to win.” Ed Reynolds, Director of defending world champions, Quantum Racing, sailing’s equivalent of a motorsports ‘works’ team opined that it would need an average score of fourth to win: “This is the most competitive 52 Super Series fleet I can remember.” Quantum Racing’s score averaged 3.6 and they did not win.

The worst result in Platoon’s score line in the eight-race series was a single sixth, their only finish off the podium. Behind every success of this kind is a backstory and, as is so often the case at this level, it is one of passion, dedication, the pursuit of perfection and sheer hard work.

With many years of sailing experience that includes three Dragon Gold Cups, Müller-Spreer is a knowledgeable owner-helmsman. He knows what it takes to succeed and how difficult it is to construct a win like this: “All the teams are more or less the same, with Olympic medallists and America’s Cup winners in the crew. This class is very hard to win.”

Human Performance

“There is a huge human factor in winning,” Müller-Spreer continues. “The group has to fit together. It is very, very important. They have to accept each other, they have to learn the boat, how to make it go fast, sail development, mast development. All this goes to make a winning team.”

Reynolds whole-heartedly endorses this assessment. Platoon’s tactician is American, John Kostecki – the only sailor to have achieved the sport’s pinnacle trifecta, winning Olympic silver in 1988, winning the Volvo Ocean Race in 2001-2 and winning the 33rd America’s Cup in 2010. According to Reynolds, Kostecki was one of several keys: “Most importantly, Platoon avoided the big number. Alongside that they had a really good mode for whatever condition they were in. When they were bow-forward they were able to go fast and extend. When they needed to hold a tight-lane in a tough situation they were able to until things cleared out. They had patience and their situational boat speed was impeccable.”

The TP52 Class Manager is Rob Weiland. He has watched the class develop, and witnessed serious acceleration in both human and technical performance in recent years: “The rule governing the TP52 design is relatively simple. Boats must fit into the parameters of a box. Within those parameters is room for optimization and there is a constant process of refinement that is crucial.”

Hand-Picked and Exceptional Teams

“Crew members have to be highly skilled in more than one area,” continues Weiland. “It is not good enough to be a grinder or a trimmer. You need to be in the industry – like a sail maker – so you can bring technical knowledge into the team.”

Weiland goes on to explain that the crews competing at the Rolex TP52 Worlds are hand-picked for their skill and compatibility. “They are the very tip of the iceberg,” he says. As a result, they require exemplary man-management: “The racing crew needs to be able concentrate on their primary job. They are a pro-sporting team; it is very physical. They train every day, running, cycling, working out even when at regattas. They spend long sessions analysing races and performance. They also need recovery time.”

Achieving the balance requires an equally-skilled shore or pit crew. “The shore crew are the first on the dock in the morning and the last home at night,” says Weiland. “They prepare the boat first thing and when it comes back in at the end of racing they clean it down, check everything, rig, ropes, systems.”

The process of checking is essential. A constant programme of refinement and optimization means the yachts themselves are highly-tuned machines and are therefore vulnerable. “Nothing is unbreakable,” says Weiland.

A Special Kind of Leadership

This high-pressure environment requires a particular type of yacht owner. Pablo Roemmers, member of the Argentinian sailing dynasty and co-owner of the Azzurra team, which represents the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, sees the responsibility as an attractive challenge: “On the one hand, our crew are true friends, who have been together for many years, so we have a familiar relationship. On the other hand, we have to achieve results, so everyone has to be as professional as possible. This requires separation from the emotional part to be strict when the results are not what are expected.”

Azzurra seemed to have laid down an early marker for the 2017 Rolex TP52 World Championship when they led all the way around the course during the practice race ahead of the main event. Mixed results mid-series put the team on the back foot.

Roemmers was philosophical: 'It is much easier to accept winning than defeat, especially when you have given everything to be at the top. It is important not to get too upset, but go back to the basics, do what one normally does. This is the top league. If you are doing everything you can, the results will come. You have to look to your mistakes and try to learn every single day. And, of course, enjoy the times you do well!” Adopting this approach, Azzurra would eventually finish third, winning the final race to overhaul Alegre in the standings.

Incentives to Compete

Talking to crew competing at the Rolex TP52 Worlds confirms they are a special group. It is clear they are as passionate and committed as the boat owners. Nacho Postigo is navigator on the Turkish yacht Provezza which finished in eighth. “There are two reasons we are here,” he says. “First it is the level. You are constantly testing your personal skills and the skill of your team against the very best.

A small mistake will drop you from the fleet. It is very challenging and you learn a tremendous amount each race.” Second, Postigo believes it is the ability of the crews to apply their technical skills to improve the boat: “We are constantly analysing performance, how to improve ourselves and the boat. Small variations are significant. This is stimulating and challenging.”

There is a third aspect that Postigo says the crews appreciate: “The owners engaged in this type of racing are very successful people. Successful in business and with their lives. They want to succeed in sailing in the same way. To do so, they have to understand that winning here is about hard work and perfecting things.” They also have to possess a level of humility to understand the rest of the fleet are also very good: “You have to realise that to beat them is a big achievement and if they beat you it is because they sailed better.”

Optimum Performance and Sportmanship Win

In Postigo’s eyes, it takes a special breed of owner. One who understands the level of the game being played: “You have to be a true sportsman to survive. You have to have a lot of respect for the opposition. Try to win, of course, but understand you are against very, very good teams. It is not always possible, someone has to lose.”

In winning the 2017 Rolex TP52 World Championship, Harm Müller-Spreer and his Platoon crew achieved the highest accolade possible in sport: the respect of their peers. Zennström, again: “Winning against this fleet is a really great achievement; this fleet is so, so good. They deserve to celebrate today.”

And celebrate they did at the final prize giving in Marina di Scarlino, where Müller-Spreer was awarded a Rolex timepiece, the recognized symbol of success and achievement in yachting, along with the 2017 Rolex TP52 World Championship trophy. Just rewards for a commanding performance.