Galicia 52 Super Series Royal Cup at Monte Real Club de Yates - Day 3
by 52 Super Series 5 Jun 21:15 BST
2-7 June 2025
After a bitterly disappointing first regatta of the season when they finished in an uncharacteristic last position in Saint-Tropez, France last month, the fortunes of the German flagged 2023 52 SUPER SERIES overall champions Platoon Aviation seem to have turned for the better.
Harm Müller-Spreer's crew were the top scoring boat of the day at the GALICIA 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup in Baiona today posting a second and first to elevate themselves to second place on the regatta scoreboard.
After six races contested over the first three days of the five day event, American Magic Quantum Racing remain the dominant force holding a 16 points lead with a maximum of four races still to be sailed. The 2024 overall title holders staged a great comeback during today's second race. They were over the start line early and had to turn back and re-cross. From chasing in 11th they were already up to sixth by the first windward turn and by the finish gun the US team, circuit leaders, had recovered to fourth to ensure their scoreline still contains no result worse than fourth. France's Paprec, which has Loïck Peyron as tactician, are clinging to third step on the regatta podium.
Weather conditions were as rugged as the Atlantic coast backdrop, 18kts from the SSW for Race 5 accompanied by grizzly sea mist which meant the windward marks - two nautical miles from the start line - could not always be seen. The second race was very slightly lighter as the clouds started to roll back to reveal slivers of blue sky heralding a slight drop in wind pressure.
With Terry Hutchinson calling tactics American Magic led the first race from the first windward mark, rounding just ahead of Platoon Aviation which has Markus Wieser steering this week. Tactician Vasco Vascotto is also without his highly dependable strategist Jordi Calafat this week. Both boats started well, alongside each other on the line and were able to just take the benefit of the middle left of the upwind whilst Sled went further to gain and round third, that being the finishing order. Paprec were the early leaders after the start but choosing the right of the first beat were not able to hold on and rounded the top mark sixth.
Eric de Turckheim's Teasing Machine has found their first regatta of the season something of a roller coaster. With Laurent Pages calling tactics assisted by Portugal's multi talentedOlympian turned Match Race world champion turned round-the-world racer Mariana Lobato as strategist, the French team followed up their Race 3 win with a pair of 11ths. They were on course for their second race win when they were pipped by Platoon Aviation who gybed away, found a little extra wind pressure to record their first race win of the season so far.
Platoon Aviation's tactician Vasco Vascotto smiled, "Can you imagine how bad we felt after Saint-Tropez, it was very, very bad, we were not happy how we sailed and unfortunately there was not many races and when you make one mistake it is easy to make a second mistake and that was the way it went. Today it was important to stop the snowball. It was a good day for us to have more confidence in what we are doing. Still I think we need to improve a little bit more, a lot of things. We need to go a little faster and there are a few things to do in the future."
Helmsman Wieser grinned, "When I sailed so many times against Vasco so many times over so many years he has been hard but sailing with him he is super nice, always positive thinking guy and it is really great to sail with him. I hate to sail against him, we fight a lot on the water. But sailing with him for the first time is a real pleasure. He is kind of emotional and a bit like me, not super- structured and he sails a lot by his feeling which I like a lot."
Results after Day 3: (six races)
1. American Magic Quantum Racing, USA, Doug DeVos, 2+2+4+1+1+4 = 14pts
2. Platoon Aviation, GER, Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+10+9+4+2+1 = 30pts
3. Paprec, FRA, Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 7+3+7+2+6+8 = 33pts
4. Alkedo, ITA, Andrea Lacorte, 5+1+8+3+7+10 = 34pts
5. Alegre, GBR, Andy Soriano, 1+4+11+9+5+6 = 36pts
6. Sled, USA, Takashi Okura, 10+7+5+7+3+5 = 37pts
7. Provezza, TUR, Ergin Imre, 3+5+10+10+8+3 = 39pts
8. Phoenix, RSA, Tina & Hasso Plattner, 9+9+3+8+4+7 = 40pts
9. Teasing Machine, FRA, Eric de Turckheim, 8+11+1+11+11+2 = 44pts
10. Vayu, THA, Whitcraft Family, 6+6+6+6+9+11 = 44pts
11. Alpha+, HKG, Shawn & Tina Kang, 11+8+2+5+10+9 = 45pts