52 Super Series: The double for "Platoon" - season title after World Championship triumph
Tatjana Pokorny
· 23.09.2023
A script for the season finale of the 52 Super Series should never have been written like that. Nobody would have believed it. What happened this week in Puerto Portals and in the bay of Mallorca was incredible. The best teams in the 52 Super Series had lined up to decide the battle for the season championship. Sailors and observers expected a thrilling duel between Ergin Imre's Turkish leader "Provezza" and Harm Müller Spreer's "Platoon", which was crowned TP52 World Champion a month ago.
The "Gladiator factor" in the final of the 52 Super Series
In the first race, "Platoon" sailed to third place, while Team Provezza had a slip-up with ninth place. But nine more races were to follow. This is what happened in the second race: The British "Gladiator" team aggressively sought space in the front row at the start and shot into the already formed competitors from behind.
"At the start, they drove into a gap from behind at full throttle where there were only two metres," said an annoyed Harm Müller-Spreer. His team missed two races due to the double foul, in which both "Platoon" and the US yacht "Sled" were damaged. In return, "Platoon" was later awarded average points of 5.5 twice. The crew on "Provezza" scored 6th and 2nd place at the same time.
Suddenly "Provezza" also has rigging problems
The following day, all teams were initially ready to continue the series after evening repairs and checks. But then a damaged shroud on "Platoon" again caused two missed races for the TP52 starting for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, for which the jury later transferred two more 5.5 points to the "Platoon" account to compensate for the consequential damage from the collision the day before.
At the same time, however, the crew on "Provezza suddenly had to contend with rig damage, was unable to finish the fourth race and could not compete in the fifth or sixth. The crew rushed to Palma to fetch the replacement rig that was waiting there.
Bug to bug: "Provezza" and "Platoon"
Only in the last three races were the teams on "Platoon" and "Provezza" both in action again - and made it criminally exciting. With 4th and 2nd place, Harm Müller-Spreer and his team were almost on a par with the Provezza team (1, 3) in races seven and eight.
After that, everyone involved knew that the season championship would be decided in the ninth and final race. The "Platoon" crew failed thoroughly with ninth place. But the Provezza team only finished sixth. After a total of five regattas in 2023 and the rollercoaster ride through the final week of the season, these two results led to an almost unbelievable season result: "Platoon" won the season championship for the first time this year after a total of 45 races - ahead of "Provezza" on equal points.
Equal on points to the season championship
After Harm Müller-Spreer had already reached the podium of a 52 Super Series season championship five times with the "Platoon" crew, but had never stood on the highest podium position, the summit assault with tactician Vasco Vascotto and German professional Michael Müller has now succeeded. The second major "Platoon" victory of the season after the world championship triumph could not have been closer, with just one point ahead of "Provezza".
For the likeable "Provezza" owner Ergin Imre, this second and even closer defeat within a month was tough. His team had had an excellent season with helmsman John Cutler, tactician Hamish Pepper and helmsman Nacho Postigo, but was unable to shake off the burden of the three races missed for technical reasons in the final sprint with 34 points. The 52 Super Series is traditionally sailed without strings. Harm Müller-Spreer's comments on the "Platoon" double and the first championship win of the season were correspondingly differentiated, but also happy:
I've tried so many times. And finally we had a little bit of luck here" (Harm Müller-Spreer)
"It's been a long road to get here. I've tried so many times. And finally we had a little bit of luck here. In that sense, I'm very sorry for Ergin and the 'Provezza's' bad luck. They are the real champions this year. But that's life sometimes - it's tough. We were on the lucky course and they weren't, and I'm sorry for that."
Commenting on his team's performance this season, Harm Müller-Spreer said: "We had more confidence in the second half of the season. We learnt how the boat works compared to last year after we changed the keel. And in the end it was a good performance. The boat ran well and the team spirit was really good. I feel great. Winning the season title and the world title as owner and helmsman is the maximum you can achieve on an international monohull racing yacht."
If we put aside random events and the influence of third parties - the jury - we have the feeling that we were the best boat of the season" (Nacho Postigo)
Navigator Nacho Postigo put the feelings of Team Provezza into words: "In a way, I am very disappointed with the result. But I am also very proud of the way we have sailed all season and of the strength of this team. If we put aside random events and the influence of third parties - the jury - we feel that we were the best boat of the season, and that's a good feeling."
Nacho Postigo, who also sails on the J-Class "Topaz" and other prominent racing yachts, continued: "For me, the highlight of the season is that Provezza is so much more than just a sailing team. It's like a family. And Ergin makes sure that we come together and that we are all rowing in the same direction. That's the secret to our success."
Hasso and Tina Plattner's "Phoenix" wins off Puerto Portals
Hasso and Tina Plattner's "Phoenix" won the regatta off Puerto Portals with a whopping eleven points ahead of "Sled" and the British "Allegre". No other team had been able to sail such a big lead as "Phoenix" with helmsman Tony Norris and tactician Ed Baird in any of the other four TP52 regattas this season in Saint-Tropez, Scarlino, off Menorca or at the World Championship in Barcelona. Tony Norris said: "Winning this regatta is a big one for our team. We once went through with Ed Baird in 2018 and it's great to have him back. He is an outstanding talent."
Attention, high voltage! This is how the final of the 2023 season championship in the 52 Super Series came to an end:
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