Tony Langley’s Gladiator team won the one and only race to be sailed at the Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week to keep the pressure on the event leaders Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon Aviation who maintained their high level of consistency with a third to remain nine points clear as the regatta passed its midpoint today. Doug DeVos’s Quantum Racing powered by American Magic took third.
It was another pin end start masterclass from helm Guille Parada, Langley and the world championship winning afterguard, their opening gambit on their chosen, favoured left side of the course allowed them to cross the fleet just over half way up the first beat. From there the British team were very much in control of Race 5 and able to build a comfortable cushion ahead of the US boat. Platoon Aviation maybe lost ground on the second circuit but remain on course to win their first regatta since taking the 2023 Rolex TP52 World Championship title in Barcelona last year.

This is your weekly global sailing highlights show, the World on Water, September 06, 2024.

The 2024 Finn Gold Cup opened in Aarhus, Denmark, this week with an impressive line-up of new and old talent. It follows six years on from the last time the Finn world championship was held in Aarhus, then as part of the 2018, Sailing World Championships.
The event, hosted by Sailing Aarhus at the Aarhus International Sailing Center, also incorporates the Finn Silver Cup, for Under 23 sailors. At the moment there are over 110 boats entered, including seven Under 23, from 21 nations. Racing began on Tuesday 3 September, with a series of 10 races over five days.

After a long, hot, but very exciting Saturday of racing on the Bay of Palma, Harm Müller-Spreer’s 2023 circuit champions Platoon Aviation go into tomorrow’s decisive last two races of the Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week with a three points lead over both the world champions Gladiator and Quantum Racing powered by American Magic who are both locked on the same aggregate.
It is the first time this season that the German flagged team has led into the last day, reflecting an upturn in the performance of the crew with their new 2024 boat. But for all that, they arrived back at Puerto Portals Marina somewhat disappointed with their day, reflecting on what could have been after getting not one but two successive penalties in consecutive races, both resulting in weighty ninth place finishes.

In light, ghosting conditions which prevailed for the final miles of the passage, Loïs Berrehar won the first leg of the 55th edition of the Solitaire du Figaro between Le Havre and Gijón. The 31 year old who finished third last year held his nerve and kept his boat moving best, and chose the best layline to the line to take first gun and take his first ever stage victory on his sixth La Solitaire du Figaro.

Tony Langley’s British flagged Gladiator team made it two wins in a row today when they overturned a three points deficit over the one and only race sailed to add the Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week title to the Rolex TP52 World Championship which they secured in Newport RI USA some six weeks ago.
Buoyed by the confidence of their worlds success and armed with a quick, well optimised boat they were able to get the better of Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon Aviation crew who came off second best today – only losing on tie break to their British rivals – but most of all they will rue two penalties in consecutive races on Friday. These red flags accounted for 18 of the 24 point aggregate they landed on the penultimate day of racing on the Bay of Palma.

Cross the English Channel and spend a few days in England with Pip Hare, skipper of the IMOCA Medallia. With her radiant smile, Pip invites us into her world and shares her ambitious project: her dream of competing in the Vendée Globe, her unwavering determination to make it happen, the UK's deep-rooted culture of offshore racing, and the steadfast support of her team. While some days are more challenging than others, she fully appreciates the privilege of being on the starting line for the next Vendée Globe.

Day 10: Daniele Benedetti survived a last day scare to earn first event victory on World Tour, while Justine Lemeteyer powers to victory in women’s Foil Slalom
For a short while, it looked as though the last day of the 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup may end in anticlimactic fashion after the early strong winds became gusty and shifty, which caused a postponement to the racing. Thankfully, however, shortly after 1pm local time, the wind returned allowing a further two eliminations for the men and three eliminations for the women to be completed in winds ranging anywhere between 18-28 knots.