TP52 World Championship: Half-time comeback for "Platoon Aviation" - defending champion advances

Harm Müller-Spreer's defending World Championship title holders on the new Botin design "Platoon Aviation" won the only race of the day at the Rolex TP52 World Championship off Newport in the USA late on Thursday evening. With their first World Championship victory, the team led by their owner and helmsman Müller-Spreer from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and Italian tactician Vasco Vascotto moved up to fourth place at the halfway stage of the World Championship. Tony Langley's British "Gladiator" team leads the classification after five of a maximum of ten races, just one point ahead of Andy Soriano's "Alegre".

"Platoon Aviation": in the right place at the right time

After a long wait for enough wind for the only race of the day at the Rolex TP52 World Championship, it was the team on "Platoon Aviation" that recognised the more powerful winds on the right side of the course on the first cross - and used them in their favour. The fact that the pressure was further increased by a spin in the right direction allowed "Platoon Aviation" to round the first mark with a remarkable lead. Although "Alegre" and "Sled" remained on the heels of the new German boat by six to nine knots in south-south-westerly winds, the lead of the Botin design was already too great.

We weren't zeros yesterday, but we're not heroes today either" (Vasco Vascotto)

As the fifth of a maximum of ten races at the Rolex TP52 World Championship progressed, the hunters of "Platoon Aviation" had little chance of catching up. Harm Müller-Spreer's Italian tactician Vasco Vascotto said: "This is a very important victory for us after we were in a bad situation yesterday. This helps us, we were much better." "Platoon Aviation" had only been in seventh place after four races, much to the chagrin of their title-hungry crew.

"Platoon Aviation" strategist Jordi Calafat in the mast

Vasco Vascotto continued after the team's half-time comeback: "We're giving ourselves a chance. We weren't zeros yesterday, but we're not heroes today either. It's about continuing to push hard to get the next five races right." The 54-year-old from Muggia, who has won 25 world titles during his illustrious career, explained: "Our strategist Jordi Calafat went up the mast and saw more wind on the right-hand side. We knew that the forecast said the wind might come back at 300 degrees, so we decided to go to the right. And that worked. Luckily!"

At the same time, Andy Soriano's "Alegre" crew increased the pressure on the front runners on Tony Langley's "Gladiator" in the Rolex TP52 World Championship. With second place in the fifth race, the British team, which is in second place in the interim standings with a total of 18 points in the World Championship account, reduced the gap to their compatriots (17 points) to just one point. A maximum of five more races are still to come. The race organisers of the Rolex TP52 World Championship have scheduled three races for today, Friday.

Rolex TP52 World Championship: Concentration required

Francesco Mongelli summarised just how challenging it was for the race committee on Thursday to get the only race of the day over the course. The navigator of the second-placed "Alegre", which also came second on the day, said in the evening: "We have to thank the race committee today. It was hard for them to keep going and push through this race, but in the end it was a good race."

Francesco Mongelli continued: "There was this big shift and some teams were luckier than others, but overall consistency is very important. The weather was one of the biggest challenges today because there were so many weather forecasts and none were right, none were correct. As this will continue over the next few days, we really need to stay focussed and do our job well."

The races of the Rolex TP52 World Championship are scheduled to start at 6 pm German time and will be accompanied live by Andi Robertson. In a double feature with 470 World Champion Luise Wanser (NRV Olympic Team), who will be co-commentating for the first time at the 52 Super Series season highlight, Andi Robertson will report on the action on the World Championship course off Newport.

Click here for the interim results of the Rolex TP52 World Championship and the season standings.

A world championship race win at last for defending champion Harm Müller-Spreer and his crew on "Platoon Aviation" - the highlights from the third day of racing in the Rolex TP52 World Championship off Newport: