A record fifteen TP52s lined up for battle on the waters off Porto Cervo yesterday, and the racing delivered exactly what you’d expect when the world’s best match-racing tacticians go head-to-head in one of sailing’s most competitive classes. After two windward-leeward races in the Gulf of Arzachena, Sled and Vayu share the lead on six points each, setting up what promises to be a gripping week of competition.
The Gulf of Arzachena provided a natural arena for the spectacle. The island of Caprera loomed in the background as a dozen and a half yachts jostled for position, the waters at Baja Sardinia giving the Race Committee a clean slate to work with. Ten knots of east-north-easterly breeze greeted the fleet at midday, conditions stable enough to let the racing speak for itself.
Alkedo Vitamina took the opening race after a late charge on the final run that caught Teasing Machine, who’d led comfortably through the first three legs. By the second race, Sled had found their rhythm. Tactician Francesco Bruni made an aggressive call on the port-tack start, hitting the pin end and breaking left while the rest of the fleet scrambled to catch up. “It was a pleasant surprise to get this wind in both races,” Bruni explained. “The conditions were very similar to recent days, with the right-hand side offering a clear advantage. The Race Committee had set a starting line that slightly favoured the pin end to avoid overcrowding by the committee boat, and we’d studied that opportunity over the previous days.”
Vayu kept themselves in the hunt with consistent finishes across both races, their consistency rewarded with a share of the points. No Way Back trails on eight points, whilst Alkedo Vitamina and Platoon Aviation occupy ten apiece.
Tomorrow’s racing begins at 1 p.m. local time, though lighter winds are forecast. The TP52 World Championship forms the second leg of the 52 SUPER SERIES and continues through the week on these same waters. For NZ sailors who’ve followed the class, the standard on display should serve as a reminder of just how sharp international competition gets at this level. The depth of tactical expertise in the fleet means that small execution advantages compound quickly across a series, and with fifteen strong entries, the early leaderboard tells only part of the story.
