Momentum favours Gladiator's final charge towards this year's 52 SUPER SERIES title

Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week © Nico Martinez / 52 Super Series

After winning the last two regattas, including the Rolex TP52 World Championship title in Newport in July, Tony Langley's Gladiator crew head into the final event of the season carrying an eight point lead as they bid to secure the 2024 52 SUPER SERIES title at the Valencia 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup on the famous 32nd America's Cup waters off Valencia.

So far this season sailing smart, fast, clean and very much doing their own thing, have been Gladiator's winning watchwords. And with that they carry a certain momentum into this big decider. If Gladiator were to secure this year's title they would be the first British flagged team to do so and would join Quantum Racing (USA), Azzurra (ITA/ARG), Sled (USA) and last year's champions Platoon (GER) as the only teams to hold the circuit championship title.

Rekindling old and making new memories in VLC

But as the circuit returns to a popular venue - well known to very many sailors in the fleet who spent years here in the build-up and during the 32nd America's Cup - and for some the 33rd - the racing waters and the winds are very well known just as many happy memories of Cup life ashore will be also rekindled.

As ever the Gladiator team are pledging to 'stick to their processes' and treat the showdown as they would any other event this season. With four already under his belt leading Azzurra, Talismanic helm Guillermo Parada knows how to close out a season title but so too he has also felt the pain of missing out at the last hurdles.

"We are approaching this like it is just the next regatta." Asserts the Argentinian ace, " We need to try to stay away from trouble first and foremost, which is not always easy as we do tend to play the corners but that means staying away from other boats and doing our own thing. And then by the middle of the regatta let us see how the whole thing develops and see what we need to address or modify and keep pushing as much as we can. But nothing really changes compared to a usual regatta approach. There is still 20 per cent of the season to be played!"

He continues, "Valencia is a venue we all know and is a place I feel very good and we lived there during the Cup days and we all have good memories from there. Normally it is a little bit choppy which suits our style so let us hope to have a good week there and finish in a proper way."

Big fleet means high scores?

The final event sees 13 boats competing representing nine nations, the biggest and most international end of season fleet in the history of the circuit. As was evident at August's Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week, the bigger fleet significantly increases the potential for high scores and means converting a poor opening to a race to a 'counter' is very much harder. And indeed many who recall last season's dramatic finale in Mallorca, which saw Platoon and Provezza finish tied on points for the year, believe this year's denouement could be as close and exciting.

Chasing hard are Doug DeVos's Quantum Racing powered by American Magic in second place. With their young afterguard, led by skipper-tactician Victor Diaz de Leon, consistency has carried them to second place overall and may yet see the US flagged team win the 52 SUPER SERIES title for the sixth time. But as yet they have not won a regatta title since the 'American Magic' initiative started two years ago and have struggled to close out on the last day of events.

Cup commitments

At a critical time they will be missing helmsman Harry Melges IV who will be in Barcelona with the American Magic Youth Team. In comes the vastly experienced Morgan Larson (USA) who will steer for this Royal Cup final only. Larson has won titles in the past with Quantum and Rán Racing and is a cool, calm, character who will rise to the challenge but it will be tough to integrate swiftly into such a key role.

"I think we can still win the series." Believes Diaz de Leon, "There is no doubt Gladiator is sailing really well and they have an eight point buffer but that is nothing in this fleet, anything can happen at the last event as we saw last year with a lot of high scoring races. But we are going to focus on our processes. We will miss Harry as he has been doing such a great job, it has been really cool to see his development as a helm in this fleet. But we are lucky to have Morgan and this is all about how quickly we can integrate him into the team."

He adds, "We have everything we need to win. We need to just find a few tiny percent here and there and get some luck. But we are a new young team and I am a new tactician in this fleet and inexperience can be expensive and so we have made mistakes and it shows in the scorelines. But we are fighting every day to get better. We are proud of our progress. And if you asked me at the beginning of the season if we would be happy to be coming into the last regatta of the season with a good chance of winning the title, I'd be happy to have taken that."

Platoon Aviation looking to finish on a high

Swapping from a Vrolijk boat to a new design family from Botin Partners, it has taken time for the defending champions Harm Müller-Spreer's German flagged Platoon Aviation to learn and optimise their new craft. They only missed out on winning the Puerto Portals regatta on tie break but are 20 points behind Quantum Racing powered by American Magic lying in third overall and 28 behind Gladiator.

Their enigmatic Italian tactician Vasco Vascotto admits, "I think we are too many points behind to win the circuit but what is good is that we have improved over the season and we can try to finish with a good result in Valencia. And even to close points on Gladiator would be progress. I think Gladiator are on fire with Guille, I think there will be fight between Gladiator and Quantum with their different helmsman who I know well and I think he can be quite aggressive in the start area, and so there will be some fights on the line. But remember it is easy to lose big points in this fleet quickly. I think our objective is still most of all to learn the boat more and more. At the start of the regatta I see it as just eight days until the next season, that is how I think of this event, we need to keep preparing to win the circuit next season."

Royal Cup, an historic coveted top trophy

Platoon are the holders of the Royal Cup, one of the circuit's most coveted trophies of the season, a top award that any of the teams would be delighted to win to close their season. But, equally any one of ten teams could lift this famous trophy including Hasso and Tina Plattner's Phoenix who won the last event of 2023, Takashi Okura's Sled team or indeed Andy Soriano's Alegre crew or the brand new Provezza which was launched for Puerto Portals Sailing Week.

The battle for the overall podium is far from over too. Within reach of third overall are Sled in fourth who are just eight points behind Platoon Aviation whilst Alegre will be gunning for fourth from ten points behind and, as always at this end of the season every single point is doubly precious.

But will the stars align?

Aside from the form book, the carefully calculated odds and expectations, happy coincidence might favour Langley and Gladiator. His first international regatta was 14 years ago on these same Valencia waters on Weapon of Choice which was formerly Matador which Parada had guided to a world title in the colours of the Roemmers family. And Parada's last 52 SUPER SERIES circuit title was clinched on Azzurra in Porto Cervo on his 52nd birthday. Five years on his birthday falls on the last day of the season....will the stars align?

After Monday's official practice race racing runs Tuesday 24th September to Saturday 28th September. The event is sailed under the flag of the Club de Vela Valencia Mar and will be hosted by King Marine.