With just four races remaining at the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Porto Cervo, the fleet has reshuffled at the top. Alpha+ and Sled now share the lead after six races, separated from third-placed Platoon Aviation by the slimmest margins. Three points span the top five boats, a gap so narrow it tells you everything about how evenly matched this 52-metre fleet has become.
Wednesday’s racing unfolded in light thermal breezes of eight to ten knots flowing from the east. Crioula struck early. The Brazilian boat’s crew, guided by Olympic sailor Samuel Albrecht from the tactics desk, nailed their start on the favoured left-hand side and never looked back. They led around the first mark and gradually extended downwind to take the day’s opening race. Platoon Aviation finished second, with Nick Egnot-Johnson’s Alpha+ in third.
The second race played out differently. Sled punched ahead at the first mark with Alpha+ shadowing them a boat length behind. Both crews, relying on tacticians Checco Bruni and Adrian Stead respectively, hunted the wind shifts across the remaining legs. Alpha+ seized their chance and crossed the line first. Terry Hutchinson’s No Way Back rounded out the podium.
That victory shuffled the standings. Alpha+ climbed level with Sled on points at the top, relegating Platoon Aviation to third despite their earlier race win. Paprec and No Way Back occupy fourth and fifth, level on the same points total. Any one of these boats could take the title when two more races run tomorrow and the final pair concludes on Saturday.
The margins remain razor-thin. In a fleet this competitive, a strong start, clean mark rounding, and sharp tactical positioning often separate a win from a slip back down the order. The thermally influenced breeze forecast for Thursday should maintain the pattern, keeping the racing close and unpredictable right through to the finish.
