52 SUPER SERIES Valencia Sailing Week Preview: Record fleet of 16 teams are ready to rumble

52 SUPER SERIES Valencia Sailing Week © Nico Martinez / 52 SUPER SERIES

Brazilian teams Caballo Loco and Crioula both shone on today's short official practice races ahead of Tuesday's first races of the 52 SUPER SERIES Valencia Sailing Week, the final event of a thrilling 2026 season which has so far seen three different crews win regattas, Takashi Okura's Sled in Puerto Portals and Porto Cervo, Jean-Luc Petithuguenin's Paprec at Marina Rubicon in Lanzarote and then Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation at Puerto Calero.

In a breeze which built to 11 knots the Brazilian pair of TP52s sailed clean and were out front in the record sized fleet of 16 boats.

Lined up at the base of the iconic Veles e Vents building, a design legacy of the America's Cup years, the fleet is an inspirational sight, a wonderful reflection of the strength and depth of the circuit at this precise moment. And seeing the passionate Brazilians - relative newcomers to the circuit - up leading the charge today is a true reflection that any team could win this week.

"It is only the training day when it counts for nothing." Eduardo Plass, Crioula's owner-driver smiled wryly back at the dock, "But we are sailing the boat well I feel and if we get some good wind I think we can do well again. Caballo Loco sailed well too they are just getting used to the circuit."

Of course delivering a solid final result of the season in the biggest fleet ever becomes much more challenging, not least as almost all are at the top of their game. Small mistakes which might have cost a place or two before will now mean much bigger, more expensive losses.

"If we got what we did today, a fourth and a fifth, most days of the regatta we would be very happy in this fleet." Said Cole Parada, tactician on Provezza which come to Valencia on the back of a third, their first podium of the season, and welcome talismanic three times Olympic medallist Santi Lange back to the Provezza coach boat. "If you could keep every result in the top seven in this fleet you'd do very well at the end of the week. We had good events in Puerto Portals and in Puerto Calero and we sail the boat well, these conditions here suit our boat better than the heavy breeze. We are going better in these conditions, we were quick today but made a couple of mistakes. And having Santi back is another boost, he is another very good set of eyes and has good input to our strategy before the start."

Being back in the America's Cup city, seeing the fleet lined up, the dozens of technical containers and shore support, the branding and bunting, a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation, it is not too hard to consider that the circuit has become the de facto pinnacle monohull racing circuit in the world, and the top pro sailors may have had a busy, stamina sapping late season with back to back regattas, but the 52 SUPER SERIES is really what they, and the owners, love most.

Alegre's Italian navigator Francesco Mongelli is inspired by what he sees and experiences, "Sailing in this fleet, I am maybe getting a little bored of some other sailing maybe, but now sailing against 15 other boats this is so good, so nice, it is proper sport. I love it. Maybe for some of us, this is why we fell in love with sailing. For me that love and passion is here, it is back. You get the hunger back, like today on the starting line, everyone on the line - or today everyone over! - it is so enjoyable, real sailing. I feel this is for everyone. The America's Cup is not representative of traditional sailing and this is. This is about teamwork, it is about technology - not at the same level as the Cup - but if you want to keep making the boat better there are always small gains. And that technical gain might be just enough to get you across another boat on port tack. That is important and worth fighting for."