Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais - Practice Day
by 52 Super Series 1 Jul 12:02 PDT
1-6 July 2025
Of the three past and present world championship winning crews which completed their final practice today in typically muscular 25 knot breezes and big waves out of Cascais, Portugal it was Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation which showed best today in the two official practice races prior to the start of the Rolex TP52 World Championship Wednesday.
With Markus Wieser on the helm Platoon Aviation led the fleet on the first dress rehearsal race after port tacking the fleet off the start line. They then chased winners Gladiator through the finish line of the second single lap practise race in second place. Both warm up races were contested in top end conditions, more than 25 kts at times, which saw the 11 teams from nine different nations pushing the envelope as much as they dared.
On the one hand it was vital to take full advantage of the breezy conditions, such as are expected to blow all week, to finesse the manoeuvres and fine tune communication and timings. On the other hand it was important not to break anything or anyone in advance of the first races which are due to start Wednesday midday (local time) in winds likely to be north of 22 or 23 knots.
Platoon Aviation are chasing their fourth Rolex TP52 world title after wins in Scarlino in 2017, in Puerto Portals in 2019 and in Barcelona in 2023. So far their worlds triumphs have been in light to moderate breezes in the Med but their core crew - among them America's Cup winners Rossco Halcrow, and mainsheet trimmer Dirk de Ridder - have fully 25 years of experience in the TP52 and that was evident today, as it also was aboard the 2021 world champions Sled who triumphed in the big breeze in November 2021 on the Bay of Palma.
Jules Salter the Platoon Aviation navigator noted, "In 25 + knots like today it is pretty tough, you have to keep it tidy, keep it clean and keep the boat fast. It is great race course which is hard to manage. We have done a lot of sailing together. A lot of our guys have done this for such a long time, myself I started on a TP52 in 2005 and we know the lessons you learn over the years for when it is like this, but you have to remember them and make sure they don't bite you, because here they will bite you hard."
Lacking reps and muscle?
With multiple changes on board and a much younger crew since the last time they won here in 2022, when it was only breezy the last two days, American Magic Quantum Racing will be focused on learning and staying tight and safe. Their most medalled world titlist is Greg Gendell who has six world titles, a second and a third with Quantum Racing. The American bowman said today, "Without a doubt it is going to be a challenge to win here and it will certainly be the best team that wins the world title. It will need good starts, good upwind speed and good strategy. It has been good so far. We don't quite feel we are race ready in this breeze, we have not really done a lot of reps in the conditions we are expecting. So, keeping it simple and from my perspective I have a big role as bowman and there is quite a lot of other stuff here that is not normally on my radar."
Defending
The defending champions Tony Langley's Gladiator messed up the first practice race start but were quickly in control of the second race on the inshore, right side of the upwind. Trimmer Simon Fry attests, "We have to be smooth, consistent, maybe minimise risk and obviously keep the rig over the top of the boat and not get locked out at start time. And to win any world title you need a little bit of luck, the planets need to align. If we do what we are good at we will be fine. If we don't trust the process we increase risk and we end up looking down rabbit holes we will struggle. We were ragged today and got locked out at the boat, we had a few issues with a new system we were trying on the shor sheet. Second race we were better, we had a good start and the right hand track kind of favoured us and downwind we were fine."
On the Sled it will be Adam Beashel steering this week, project manager and mainsheet trimmer Don Cowie enthuses, "This is always such an amazing place. Where else you can motor out one mile and it goes from 12 knots to 25 knots. Cascais is a mega sailing venue, it is always great no matter what class you are sailing in. We are happy with the way we are sailing here, we have always gone quite well in the breeze over the years. It is good to do some learning in terms of starts and downwind sailing here. But we are good."
Marinho is the local hero....Cascais' 'special one'?
After finishing third in Baiona at the Royal Cup in Galicia, on the podium for the first time at just their second ever event on the 52 SUPER SERIES, Andrea Lacorte's crew on Alkedo arrive in Cascais objective and humble with their feet on the ground. Their secret weapon may yet prove to be local hero Alvaro Marinho, four times 470 Olympian who sailed all his professional life out of Cascais. For him racing the Rolex TP52 World Championship on home waters is a dream come true, his biggest challenge here since 2007 when he missed a medal on the last race of the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
Marinho smiles, "I guess these last three days have shown what we can expect this coming week in Cascais, maybe tomorrow a little bit more wind, but I guess at some point even these boats have their limit. But it is amazing to be here racing, to have this strong breeze. It is challenging for the organisation to kind of find another place to race. In the bay (to the east of the marina) the wind comes in very late and is very shifty, at 1600hrs you can set up a course, but out there it is amazing. This is the first time we have sailed in these conditions together and Andrea is finding his feet a bit, it is his first time with a tiller. We are trying to do the simple things well. For me it is obviously a big honour to be racing here are home, there is so much support here and I have started my sailing career here in the 470 all these years ago. My professional career for Sydney started here. I have a lot of good friends here who came to sail with us here over the years. Cascais has been a special place here for sailing for so many years, especially since 2007 when the ISAF Sailing World Championships were here."
Racing runs Wednesday to Sunday, first warning signal 1200hrs. All racing live streamed.