The 2026 52 SUPER SERIES begins, checking in with the IMOCA fleet, celebrating the Congression Cup
by David Schmidt 5 May 08:00 PDT
May 5, 2026
Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week © Nico Martinez / 52 Super Series
When the conversation turns to Grand Prix keelboat racing, it's never long before the 52 SUPER SERIES enters the mix. The circuit, which began in 2012, is contested aboard inshore-optimized TP52 monohulls.
The 2026 season is set to feature five events, starting with the Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week (May 4 to May 9), which is taking place off of Puerto Portals, Spain, and concluding with the 52 SUPER SERIES Valencia Sailing Week (October 5-10), which will take place on the waters off of Valencia, Spain. In between the season's opening and closing chapters are events that are set to unfurl off of Porto Cervo, Italy (June 15-20), and double events off of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands (July 20-25, and August 24-29).
Fourteen teams are expected to contest this week's Puerto Portals event, with Takashi Okura's Sled flying "USA 5095" on its sails.
While 52 SUPER SERIES fans no doubt miss the days of Doug Devos's American Magic Quantum Racing, which won the 2025 Rolex TP52 World Championship and the 2025 52 SUPER SERIES Season title before retiring from the circuit, the team's boat and reportedly about three quarters of the crew (including tactician Terry Hutchinson) are now racing under the Dutch flag and in new-to-the-series No Way Back livery.
No Way Back is led by team owner Pieter Heerema and will be joined on the starting line by two other brand-new teams, namely the Swedish-flagged Trinity Racing, which is being led by Joakim Sundberg (with Ed Baird calling tactics), and the Brazilian-flagged Caballo Loco, which is being led by co-owners Mauro Dottori and Fabio Cotrim (with Jorge Zarif calling the tactical shots).
While the starting guns were still some 19 hours over the horizon at the time of this writing, odds are excellent that this high-level keelboat event will deliver great on-the-water tussles and finishing times that are decided by skinny finishing-line deltas.
Speaking of high-level European racing, the IMOCA Class's 1000 Race, which is a 1,200 nautical mile season-opening singlehanded roundtrip race from Port-la-Forêt in Brittany, France, to Fastnet Rock that honors two waypoints (both virtual) in the Bay of Biscay, began on Sunday.
Of the seven competing yachts, four are being led by skippers (Corentin Horeau [FRA], Nico D'Estais [FRA], Elodie Bonafous [FRA], and Francesca Clapcich [ITL-USA]) who are competing in their first-ever singlehanded IMOCA 60 race. These first timers will be racing alongside three tested IMOCA sailors, namely Arnaud Boissières, Violette Dorange, and Sam Godchild.
While the race has seen light airs (as of this writing) that likely spell displacement-mode sailing for this foiling fleet, this doesn't mean that the racing hasn't been competitive, and that experience isn't paying dividends.
At the time of this writing, Goodchild, racing aboard Macif Sante Prevoyance, is sitting in the pole position, followed by D'Estais, who is racing aboard Café Joyeux, and Dorange, who is racing aboard Initiatives Coeur.
Just six nautical miles (again, as of this writing) separated Initiatives Coeur's bow from Macif Sante Prevoyance's stern.
Italian-American skipper Francesca Clapcich was sitting in sixth place, about 19 miles astern of Macif Sante Prevoyance.
"After a couple of miles, I was really not as fast as the group ahead," Clapcich reported from aboard 11th Hour Racing in an official communication. "I got stuck in a big right (wind) shift and less wind, so the approach to Les Glénan was quite painful. And then we are basically upwind and yeah, it's been tricky conditions, really light."
This is evidenced by 11th Hour Racing's sail wardrobe, which Clapcich has been rotating through to try find 11th Hour Racing's sweet spot in the thin winds.
"I was on the J0 sail for most of the day, then I peeled to the J1 when it got a bit stronger, and then peeled back to the J0, [so] it's been quite physical," Clapcich wrote in the same race report.
But, with about 1,100 nautical miles to go, this contest has plenty of tussles left.
Meanwhile, much closer to home, Australian skipper Cole Tapper and his Kairos Racing Team have won the 61st Congressional Cup, which was hosted by the Long Beach Yacht Club and contested on the waters off of Long Beach, California, from April 29 to May 3. This was Tapper's first time winning this high-level match-racing event, and vis-à-vis his first time earning the right to don the event's iconic crimson blazer.
Tapper's win ultimately came down to tough battle in race three against Swiss flagged skipper Eric Monnin and his Swiss Match Racing Team, which struggled to get their kite down. This small boathandling situation gave Tapper and company the opening they needed to close the door on their Swiss-flagged rivals, who were ultimately forced to settle for brides-maid honors.
"This means so much to me and to the team," said Tapper in an official event communication. "Waking up this morning, we definitely felt like we were facing an uphill battle. But we're so glad to have rallied and come back, and the only reason we were able to do that is because of these guys on my crew. Also from us, a very special thank you has to go to Jordan Reece, our coach, as he's done a huge amount of work helping us get where we are today."
Skipper Chris Poole and his American-flagged Riptide Racing team took third place.
Finally, for fans of one-design keelboat racing, the 2026 Quantum Melges 24 Great Lakes Cup is a five-event series that promises great freshwater racing. The series starts with the Spring Championship, which is being hosted by the Muskegon Yacht Club in Muskegon, Michigan, from May 15-17, and concludes with the Melges 24 World Championship, which will be hosted by the Little Traverse Yacht Club, in Harbor Springs, Michigan, from September 19-26.
In a first, the 2026 Quantum Melges 24 Great Lakes Cup winner will be announced after the finishing guns fall quiet at this year's Melges 24 Worlds.
"Quantum Sails is proud to support the 2026 Melges 24 Great Lakes Cup again this year," said Scott Nixon, Quantum Sails' one design director, in an event communication. "The 2026 circuit will be an awesome lead-up to the World Championships in Harbor Springs this September...We are excited to be a part of the continued growth of one of the premier high-level one-design classes in the world, right here on the Great Lakes."
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor