Top boat two days in a row, Alpha Plus lead worlds title charge in Sardinia
The Hong Kong flagged crew of Alpha Plus gave owner Shawn Kang a great birthday present today when they bolted together a third and first, the top scoring boat for the second successive day, to lead the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.
After an opening day pair of 12th places Alpha Plus have gone 2,1,3,1 to lead on tie break from the 2021 World Champions Sled, the current leaders of the 52 SUPER SERIES.
With Adrian Stead calling tactics and Ian Moore navigating Alpha Plus sailed smart and fast, minimising risk after good starts and precise, perfectly managed first upwind legs, a real testament to Stead’s vision and patience.
Alpha Plus were in the top three at every mark today and are showing all the hallmarks of being world title contenders come Saturday’s big finale.
Luke Van Der Kamp, project manager for Alpha Plus grinned “It was very much the same as yesterday for us, we just kept things simple and followed our plan, stuck to our processes, didn’t take risks and worked hard. The boat is quick, we are fast!”
Today’s light sea breezes, never more than 11kts but never below nine, gave very close and exciting racing for the record fleet of 15 boats from 11 different nations. Mark roundings were more intense and tighter than ever before and that very top level consistency was achieved by few teams.
Jean-Luc Petithuguenin’s Paprec team moved into the lead after a fourth in the day’s first race, which was won by Brasil’s Crioula, but Paprec were then over the start line early on the second contest. They battled back to ninth across the finish line, but now lie fourth, albeit just three points off Alpha Plus’ leading aggregate.
So too, things were very much moving in a positive direction for Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back in the first race of the day until they were penalised as they lined up for the second windward mark. The two places they lost are the two points that separate them in fifth tonight from what could have been third.
Sled composed a very assured, solid day with a fifth in the first race then followed by a great second place only behind Alpha Plus to share the world championship lead with the black boat from Hong Kong while Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon Aviation are poised in third. Only three points separate the top five teams with four race to sail over the two final days.
Müller Spreer, who has three world titles to his name, said, “Our speed is good now and right now I have the feeling that the boat is up to top performance, so that opens up all opportunities on the race course. For sure we can win the world title from here but there are five boats tied together that have a chance and we need a little bit of luck and to stay calm and we can win it.”
Sled’s helm Adam Beashel reported, “It was a long, tough day with a fickle breeze which was forecast for it go right but it took a while to do that. The first race it was a bit of a surprise how strong the left was which made it interesting but we are just chipping away at the moment, trying to avoid the big mistakes and big points. The boat is set up very nicely, especially for upwind which is keeping us in the game when we need. But it is a game of inches and that was especially the case on some of these crosses. It is fantastic, tight racing but you don’t get to look around and enjoy it much.”
Rolex TP52 World Championship Porto Cervo 2026 Provisional Standings
1. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 12+12+2+1+3+1 = 31
2. Sled, Takashi Okura, 5+1+6+12+5+2 = 31
3. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+6+9+6+2+6 = 33
4. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 13+4+1+3+4+9 = 34
5. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 6+2+7+8+8+3 = 34
6. Trinity (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 10+13+3+2+12+4 = 44
7. Alkedo Vitamina (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 1+9+10+5+6+14 = 45
8. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10+5+13+7+5 = 48
9. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 3+3+14+11+9+10 = 50
10. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 11+8+4+10+11+7 = 51
11. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 7+11+13+14+1+8 = 54
12. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 2+14+11+9+10+11 = 57
13. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 15+5+8+4+15+15 = 62
14. Caballo Loco (BRA), Mauro Dottori & Fabio Cotrim, 9+7+15+7+13+13 = 64
15. Vudu (ITA), Mauro Gestri, 14+15+12+15+14+12 = 82
