Galicia 52 Super Series Royal Cup at Monte Real Club de Yates - Day 4
by 52 Super Series 6 Jun 18:38 BST
2-7 June 2025
Now holding a 13-points lead after today's two races contested in 11-14kts winds at the Galicia 52 Super Series Royal Cup, Doug DeVos's American Magic Quantum Racing crew are on the cusp of completing their first 52 SUPER SERIES regatta win since victory in Barcelona in September 2022.
The US-flagged team, guided by Terry Hutchinson with Harry Melges IV steering, had a solid rather than spectacular pair of results today- a 7th and 3rd - to largely consolidate their leading margin whilst behind them it is Andrea Lacorte's Italian Alkedo Vitamina which has moved up to second overall thanks to a stellar 1, 2 today.
The mix of leaden clouds brining rain showers, interspersed with drier spells, brought subtle changes in the direction and power of the SSW'ly gradient breeze and once more the upwind legs in particular yielded a benefit on one side for two thirds of the leg and on the other side for the key final third and the approach to the turn. It was never easy to link the two together.
Alkedo on top
In the first race it was Takashi Okura's Sled which led at the top mark followed closely by Alkedo and Paprec. Alkedo sailed a better run to be first by the leeward gate. Platoon Aviation and American Magic Quantum Racing increasingly seemed to get in a grappling match to finish seventh and eighth respectively.
Paprec started best off the Race 8 grid but Alkedo but it was Ergin Imre's Provezza which got the best of the first upwind, leading American Magic and Alkedo back to the right at just the best time. Provezza found Alkedo close up a lot on the second upwind when the blue Italian boat recognized stronger breeze and shift coming in from the right but Provezza hung on well to record their first race win of the season, going 3,3,1 a sequence much more reminiscent of the team which finished on even points with the winners of the 2023 season Platoon.
John Cutler, helm of Provezza commented, "The boat is doing well now and every one in the team is working really hard to get us round the track in one piece. We have been working hard since we launched this boat to get it to go a little bit quicker. The last three races here things have been starting to go our way a bit more. It is the classic things now of the balance of the boat, the sails and how we trim them and then there is the communication of the whole crew getting everyone working together. And like everything it really is a full team effort, the shore team have been working long, long hours and so thanks to them and everyone really is working long hours to make sure we can compete well."
And so it seems a modest final day would be enough to secure American Magic Quantum Racing the Royal Cup which they last held in 2022, a season title winning year during which they won here in Baiona, in Cascais, Portugal where they collected the Rolex TP52 World Championship title as well as the Royal Cup Scarlino before securing the circuit title with a regatta win in Barcelona, the last time that talismanic Terry Hutchinson sailed a full season with the team.
Meanwhile the Italian team Alkedo which lies second at only their second ever 52 SUPER SERIES regatta are very happy with what they have already achieved, Cameron Appleton, Alkedo's tactician enthused, "In the first race everything came together from the start, the guys on board are doing a fantastic job getting the boat going upwind, the fleet is so tight and so close, you cannot put a foot wrong in how you choose your mode and you keep your lane, we had a good plan and we managed to execute. Race 2 was a slightly different story. We started well in the first race and the second one was not so good, we had to work the shifts on the first beat to get back in contention. It was really weird on the second beat and so we managed to pick a couple of good times to be on the right tack and closed right back to Provezza, we felt really today that we were really clicking and understanding what was going on. It is still not easy and you don't get it right all the times, managing the windshifts and the fleet, trying to figure out how to work it against the fleet. But we will be happy with any good result tomorrow, we have already exceeded all our expectations with how we have been performing. The team is phenomenal, we are growing, we are developing and learning each day. We have already checked a lot of boxes and hopefully we will continue to do so, but we have already sailed brilliantly."
Results after Day 4: (8 of 10 races)
1. American Magic Quantum Racing, USA, Doug DeVos, 2+2+4+1+1+4+7+3 = 24pts
2. Alkedo, ITA, Andrea Lacorte, 5+1+8+3+7+10+1+2 = 37pts
3. Platoon Aviation, GER, Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+10+9+4+2+1+8+4 = 42pts
4. Provezza, TUR, Ergin Imre, 3+5+10+10+8+3+3+1 = 43pts
5. Paprec, FRA, Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 7+3+7+2+6+8+4+7 = 44pts
6. Sled, USA, Takashi Okura, 10+7+5+7+3+5+2+5 = 44pts
7. Alegre, GBR, Andy Soriano, 1+4+11+9+5+6+10+9 = 55pts
8. Vayu, THA, Whitcraft Family, 6+6+6+6+9+11+6+8 = 58pts
9. Phoenix, RSA, Tina & Hasso Plattner, 9+9+3+8+4+7+9+10 = 59pts
10. Teasing Machine, FRA, Eric de Turckheim, 8+11+1+11+11+2+11+6 = 61pts
11. Alpha+, HKG, Shawn & Tina Kang, 11+8+2+5+10+9+5+11 = 61pts