It’s fair to say there’s a quiet sense of relief washing over the TP52 fleet as they make their way back to Cascais for this year’s Rolex TP52 World Championship, running July 1–6. After a couple of regattas spent tiptoeing around light-air traps, there’s a collective hope that Portugal’s Atlantic coast will deliver the full-fat Cascais experience – surf, breeze, and that familiar low boom of pressure building offshore.
For the 11 teams from nine nations gathered in this little corner of Portuguese sailing paradise, there’s no better place to settle the score for the world title.
Quantum Racing: Can the Youngsters Handle the Breeze?
Terry Hutchinson’s American Magic Quantum Racing team roll into Cascais off the back of a win in Baiona and a pedigree here that borders on dynastic. Doug DeVos’ crew have already banked two world titles in Cascais (2018 and 2022), not to mention a win at the 2015 Cascais Cup. But there’s a big difference between being fast in flat water and being sharp when it’s blowing 30 knots and the sea state is up.
As coach James Lyne put it: “We are still a young team which has not sailed in 20 plus knots together, so it will be a bit of a baptism of fire.” That baptism will be particularly real for helm Harry Melges IV, who has more than proved his potential so far this season, but is lacking big breeze experience. As Lynne puts it: “We need to not get ahead of ourselves thinking we can keep replicating [Baiona]. We need to keep improving every day – that is our usual ethos as a team and if we do that the points will look quite good.”
Lynne believes two factors will be key in Cascais: boat handling and tuning setup.
“In July we are likely to have at least one or two days where it is blowing 30 plus, one of our big goals for the training period is to do some boat handling and to make our mistakes then and learn from them.
“Not having sailed in 20 plus knots [this season] we need to relearn how to set up the boat, sail shapes and setting up the TP52. Brett Jones, our sail designer, and the trimmers have been working on some sails specifically for this regatta and so we are pretty excited.”
The Quantum Racing crew undoubtedly has the ingredients to win another title – but Lynne knows they’ll need to earn it the hard way.
“We have to improve if we are going to have a chance of winning the world championship,” he said.
Gladiator: Defending Champs, No Pressure
Tony Langley’s Gladiator crew arrives as the reigning world champions after their 2024 win in Newport, though they missed the last event in Baiona. While they haven’t been racing on the circuit since Saint-Tropez, project manager Feargal Finlay says they’ve clocked up some valuable hours on the Solent – in what he calls “Cascais-like conditions”.
According to Finlay, Langley himself – who is expected to steer at the upcoming world championship – has had a solid eight days steering in more than 20 knots, experience which should stand him in good stead when the Cascais wind machine turns on.
The British crew has stuck with the same winning formula in the afterguard: Guillermo Parada calling tactics and Ray Davies in support. Parada’s no stranger to TP52 world titles – he’s got three – and while he’s keeping expectations realistic, there’s a quiet confidence there.
“If we have a good week, we have a decent chance,” he says. “You have to work very hard to win in Cascais – not just sailing well but keeping the boat in one piece. It’s not just boat speed – it’s about how hard you push and how smart you are about risk.”
With no chance at the overall season title, the pressure’s off – and that makes the defending champions arguably even more dangerous.
Platoon Aviation: Always in the Hunt
You’d be hard-pressed to name a more consistent threat at the TP52 Worlds than Platoon. The German-flagged team, owned by Harm Müller-Spreer, has three Rolex world titles already.
They were runners-up in Baiona and seem to be gathering momentum at the right time. Like in Baiona, in the absence of Müller-Spreer, helming duties in Cascais go to Markus Wieser – a safe pair of hands on the tiller given the German sailor's 14 world and eight European championship titles across a wide range of classes.
Platoon Aviation navigator Jules Salter – who knows a thing or two about peak performance – says the boat is in a sweet spot. “We feel pretty good. The boat is getting more and more reliable, and the team is always looking for those tiny performance gains. This new boat should be better in the up-range conditions too.”
He’s expecting a mix of conditions in Cascais – as ever – but that’s exactly where this team thrives. They’ve done it before, and they’re in shape to do it again.
A Tough and Talented Fleet
It’s a strong field this year, and a brutal one too. Cascais doesn’t suffer fools, and past events here have dished out a full week of 20-knot-plus breeze – physically draining, mentally punishing, and hell on systems and gear.
Takashi Okura’s Sled (2021 world champs) are no strangers to heavy-air brawls, and neither is Andy Soriano’s Alegre team. Andrea Lacorte’s Alkedo Vitamina, meanwhile, are making their first appearance in serious breeze, but with local hero and three time Olympian Alvaro Marinho onboard along with strategist Cameron Appleton in the afterguard, they are unlikely to have too many issues.
Also in the line-up are Alpha+ (HKG), Paprec (FRA), Phoenix (RSA), Provezza (TUR), and Thailand’s Vayu, giving this year’s world championship its usual eclectic international flavour.
If there’s one thing you can count on at a Rolex TP52 World Championship, it’s that the leaderboard will be earned the hard way. Never more so than in Cascais where the potential for big breeze and open-water swell make it one of the most demanding stops on the circuit – and also one of the most spectacular.
With seasoned champions, new contenders, and a fleet that’s tighter than ever, this year’s world championship promises plenty of drama and action – as well as a very strong chance of some spectacular wipeouts in the windy stuff.
It's a really tough one to call, but my gut instinct says Platoon Aviation for the title.
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