Leaders Sled stay steady as others ride the roller coaster in record fleet

As the Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week passed its midpoint today with two challenging races in an offshore breeze on the Bay of Palma it is the 2021 circuit champions, Sled, the runners up in 2026’s five regatta season which has moved clear at the top of the 14 boats fleet.

More than ever the record sized fleet is proving unmercifully tough. Ergin Imre’s overnight leaders Provezza had no sooner seemed to have struck a vein of consistency than their run of top 5s hit the buffers in the first race when they plunged to a 13th which drops them to third overall. And it was a similar day on the emotional roller coaster for Andrea Lacorte’s Italian team who followed up a double bullet day of two back-to-back race wins on Alkedo Vitamina with a weighty 20 points aggregate, same as Provezza.

Takashi Okura’s Sled team were always in the right spot on a shifty day during which the right and then the left side of the first upwind leg paid in successive races. Their third and second places reflect their excellent speed in the 12-16 knots wind range and assured tactics from afterguard Murray Jones and Francesco Bruni.

Italian America’s Cup ace Bruni beamed “We are super happy with the day and how the team managed the day after the disappointment of a tough moment where we lost many points in an incident with Paprec at the top mark, we all reacted well and had a good second race yesterday. I am very impressed by how the team is managing the pressure. The fleet is big, there are big names, the quality of the racing is so high. We all want to do well and I am hoping we can keep doing well. Today we had two very good starts, starts have been the highlight of the week, the team have done a good job on positioning and hitting the line hard. When you are fast it helps get you to the windshifts, it was a lot about picking the good shifts.”

Having been denied a possible race win on day 1 by a running backstay failure which required them to retire Eric de Turckheim’s Teasing Machine came good in the first race of the day which they won from Alpha Plus whilst in the second the Plass brothers Brazilian flagged Crioula. With three times Olympian Sam Albrecht calling tactics they were well ahead by the finish line, scoring their first race win since the last regatta of 2024 in Valencia. 

Sled lead on 25pts, Provezza are second now on 34pts and German flagged three times world champions Platoon Aviation are ascending the leaderboard steadily now up to third.

Samuel Albrecht, tactician of Crioula (BRA) explained “It’s been a difficult day, with lots of shifts, but we had a fairly clear idea of the wind patterns. In the first race we wanted to go to the right, but we were blocked and couldn’t manage it; in the second we had a clear plan, and when the pin mark settled down I knew we could win. When you’re in front, everything’s easier. We didn’t get nervous; with such constant pressure, I was quite in control. The team feels more comfortable in stronger winds, above 12 knots; we still struggle in the 8–11 knot range.”

Víctor Marino off Platoon Aviation highlighted, “The communication between Jordi Calafat, Vasco Vascotto and Juan Vila worked very well today; they made all the right calls. Everything went smoothly on board and we didn’t make any manoeuvring errors. Jordi and Vasco are working on how to structure the races, because with this fleet of 14 boats the situation has changed a lot and we have to sail differently. The fleet is very evenly matched, but there are a couple of boats that stand out for their speed Alkedo and Sled.”

Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week Provisional Leaderboard after six races
1. Sled, Takashi Okura, 2+7+9+2+3+2 = 25
2. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 5+2+3+4+13+7 = 34
3. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 7+11+5+3+5+3 = 34   
4. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 10+5+4+6+9+1 = 35   
5. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 6+3+8+5+8+6 = 36  
6. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 3+8+6+10+7+4 = 38 
7. Alkedo Vitamina (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 9+9+1+1+6+14 = 40  
8. Trinity Racing (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 8+1+15(DNS)+8+4+9 = 45   
9. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 4+10+10+9+2+11 = 46  
10. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 1+4+12+14+11+13 = 55  
11. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 14+6+2+13+10+12 = 57  
12. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 11+12+7+11+12+5 = 58   
13. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 12+15(DNF)+1(PEN)+11+12+1+8 =  60
14. Caballo Loco (BRA), Mauro Dottori & Fabio Cotrim, 13+13+13+7+14+10 = 70