Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais

Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais - Preview

by 52 Super Series 23 Jun 09:43 PDT 1-6 July 2025

Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais © Nico Martinez / 52 Super Series

Given that it is a long time since the 52 SUPER SERIES fleet raced in big winds and waves, a breezy final few training days before the start of next week's Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais would be universally welcomed by the 11 teams representing nine different nations which will contest the class's pinnacle regatta title between 1st to 6th July.

The teams have long been anticipating the welcome return to Portugal's legendary Atlantic coast venue, a mecca which usually benefits from the consistent Portuguese trade winds and the surf rolling in from the open ocean. It is a venue which has proven to be good for Doug DeVos' US team. His Quantum Racing crew have been world champions seven times and won two of their Rolex TP52 World Championship titles in Cascais, in 2018 and 2022. They also triumphed in Cascais at the 2015 Cascais Cup regatta.

A baptism of fire...or surf?

Coming to Cascais on the back of a triumph in Baiona, American Magic Quantum Racing might be considered favourites to win. But, as coach James Lyne cautions, the many of the younger members of the crew have not sailed together on the boat in winds and waves and so it will be a big challenge for the team led by Terry Hutchinson which will again have young Harry Melges IV steering, Lyne warns "We are still a young team which has not sailed in 20 plus knots together, so that it will be a little bit of a baptism of fire. I think one of our main emphasis will be not getting too excited about the result in Baiona which was good but we need to not get ahead of ourselves and thinking we can keep replicating, we need to keep improving every day, that is our usual ethos as a time and if we do that the points will look quite good. A few things are key in Cascais. Number one is boat handling. In July we are likely to have at least one or two days where it is blowing 30 plus, one of our big goals for the training period is to do some boat handling and make our mistakes then and learn from them. And again not having sailed in 20 plus knots we need to relearn how to set up the boat, sail shapes and setting up the TP52. Brett (Jones) our sail designer and the trimmers have been working on some sails specifically for this regatta and so we are pretty excited. We have to improve if we are going to have a chance of winning the world championships."

Gladiator, defending champions, ready to attack

Winners in Saint-Tropez in April, and the defending 2024 world champions, Tony Langley's Gladiator team missed Baiona but many of the crew were sailing Langley's Cowes, England based Gladiator in big winds, in what project manager Feargal Finlay describes as.... "'Cascais like conditions, certainly out on the outside of the island we have seen some pretty brisk winds and seas, so I think we are ready for what comes our way. We are certainly ready for it and up for it. Tony has had certainly eight days steering in winds of more than 20kts."

Langley is expected to steer, Guillermo Parada - a three times Rolex TP52 world champion - will call tactics, complemented by America's Cup winner Ray Davies who has been sailing the UK boat with Langley and team.

Parada says, "It is a while since we all were in Cascais and so I am looking forwards to the Atlantic to the big waves and winds, and so hopefully Cascais will deliver what we are all expecting. It is a venue we all like, I have great memories. We did not sail in Baiona and so it will take us a little longer to get the communication and all that stuff, we only sailed with this set up in Saint-Tropez, so just the once, and we had a good result there but it was a one off week. It is hard to say if we can win again. On paper maybe some teams arrive in Cascais better prepared but we are out to try and defend our title as hard as we can."

He adds, "The boat was very quick in Saint-Tropez and that helps, we need to put everything together which is not easy, but we have a really good team. If we have a good week we have a decent chance. Winning in Cascais is always special because usually the conditions are very tough and so you have to work very hard to win and it is not only doing a good execution of the race, like we did in Saint Tropez but it is often about keeping the boat in one piece, you don't lose positions by bad manoeuvres, broaches or wipe outs, and so you have to work on how much to risk and how hard you play. I like that challenge, I like the heavy air."

Having missed the second regatta of the season the Gladiator team are not now expecting to be in the fight for the 2025 circuit title,

Parada highlights, "And not fighting for the overall - as we missed Baiona - takes the pressure off and we can go and give it our best regardless of the season - and push a bit more. And looking to defend our title adds to that, so we will talk about it, decide our strategy and play as hard as we can."

Platoon Aviation ready for lift off for title challenge

Platoon Aviation Harm Müller-Spreer's German flagged team, Platoon Aviation, three times winners of the Rolex TP52 World Championship title finished second in Baiona and have been consistent world title contenders. Helm Markus Wieser expressed some concerns in Baiona that he has not steered the boat in big winds and waves yet. But their British navigator Jules Salter believes they are on the right trajectory to be in the frame in Cascais..

Platoon Aviation's Salter affirms, "I think our chances are pretty good, we are always in the hunt at the worlds, the boat is strong, the team is strong and we just finished well in Baiona and so we feel pretty good. We have to push on. The boat is getting more and more reliable and the shore team are doing a better and better job and we are thinking of so many little things to do with the performance of the boat. We have a positive attitude now and we are just cracking on with it. The boat is definitely good enough to win races and it is just down to us to sail it well. We have had some good results there before and this new boat should be better in the uprange conditions. Last time we were there we had three stronger days and three softer days, from memory, and I think we might get the same this time. I am open minded, Cascais is such a great place to sail, we will take whatever comes our way."

A brutal test of stamina and reliability...

Most teams do anticipate some variety in the conditions over the five days of competition. But the circuit has in the past experienced 20 plus knots each and every day and that is always uniquely challenging both physically and mentally, day in day out avoiding the breakdowns and the broaches. And from that perspective any of the 11 teams can have hopes of keeping everything together to win the coveted Rolex TP52 World Championship. Among the top seeds will be Takashi Okura's highly experienced Sled team, 2021 Rolex TP52 World Champions love the big breeze as do Andy Soriano's Alegre team. For Baiona's Royal Cup bronze medallists Andrea Lacorte's Alkedo Vitamina of Italy, it will be their first big winds event ever together but in their corner they have Cascais' three times Olympian Alvaro Marinho as strategist working alongside Cameron Appleton.

Part of the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy

The Rolex TP52 World Championship will run alongside the sixth edition of the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy. ThIs will be the sixth edition of Portugal's showcase, multiclass event and the first time the 52 SUPER SERIES have taken part. While the Rolex TP52 World Championship spans five days from Tuesday July 1st to Sunday July 6th, the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy runs Friday 4th July to Sunday 6th July and features seven other classes including NHC, ORC, J/70, SB20, SNIPE, FINN, and OPTIMIST.

"We are excited to introduce the TP52 class to the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy for the first time," said Paulo Mirpuri, President of the Mirpuri Foundation. "The addition of the 52 SUPER SERIES further elevates the regatta, bringing really top-class competition to Cascais. This year's event will be a true spectacle for both sailors and spectators."

"As a globally renowned Grand Prix circuit, we are excited to be returning to Cascais again, but to take our place at the pinnacle of the prestigious Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy this time is really special for all of us. Not only will the event feature close, exciting competition on the perfect stage, but our sustainability goals and philosophies very much chime with the aims, objectives, and messaging of the Mirpuri Foundation. We look forward to collaborating with them to secure a better future for our oceans and coastal environment," enthuses Lars Böcking, Sustainability Director of the 52 SUPER SERIES.

The Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy aligns with the sustainability aims and objectives of the 52 SUPER SERIES, being a premier event which entirely is committed to sustainability and ocean health. As part of its eco-conscious approach, the regatta is a single-use plastic-free event, and all entry fees will be donated to ocean conservation initiatives.

Rolex TP52 World Championship CASCAIS 2025 entries: