In the picturesque surrounds of the French Riviera, Britain's Tony Langley and his Gladiator team made a dramatic late charge to secure a career-first victory at the helm on the 52 Super Series circuit.
With light winds restricting the fleet to just four races over the circuit's opening event of the 2025 season, the Gladiator crew's decisive attacking move on the final run of the final race proved pivotal in clinching a one-point victory.
Trailing Takashi Okura’s Sled on the race course—and tied on points in the regatta standings—Langley and his world champion crew seized their moment with some bold, tactical thinking. Guided by tactician Guille Parada – who helmed last season with Langley as tactician – and strategist Ray Davies, they attacked down the last run, overtaking their rivals to win the race and the regatta.
“This is very special for me in a very special place. It is still sinking in,” Langley reflected after securing his first ever event win as driver in the series. “It is my first regatta win as driver in the 52 Super Series in 15 years and for Guille it’s the first regatta win as tactician. The swapping roles looks so far so good, this is really quite special.”
Langley gave credit to Parada’s cool head under pressure during the tense finale. “In the last run, Guille and I had a few words, Sled were three or four lengths ahead, and I said to him: ‘you do realise we are tied on points with these guys for the regatta? We have to do something.’ And he said, ‘yes, I got this’. And it worked. Saint-Tropez is special for us, I love this place.”
For Parada, stepping into the tactician role after steering Gladiator to the Rolex TP52 World Championship title in Newport last year added extra satisfaction.
“It’s a great feeling, because it’s the first time I’ve sailed as tactician in the 52 Super Series, and although it’s a job I can do perfectly well, I’ve never had the chance to do it before,” he said. “Debuting with a win is something unexpected, but it makes us very happy. The reality is that my job was made easier by Ray Davies, who is a giant of the sport, and (navigator) Bruno Zirilli. The crew, the trimmers, the grinders pushing those last gybes — they made a big difference. And a separate special story for Tony, who has taken the challenge of helming again very seriously. He gave us the possibility to fight for the top positions.”
Sled, winners of the 2021 World and Circuit titles, were left ruing missed opportunities. Tactician Francesco Bruni reflected on a bittersweet second place, knowing the regatta had been theirs to lose until Gladiator’s inspired final leg.
“We had our good moments and our bad moments and unfortunately we made a few mistakes and Gladiator had a good win which they really deserve,” Bruni admitted. “We did not make any bad races in the end, but we could have won the regatta. Gladiator was the best boat this week. On that run we could have matched their first gybe... we made some mechanical mistakes, not picking the right angles. We need to learn these lessons for the next event.”
Completing the podium was Doug DeVos’ American Magic Quantum Racing, who ended on a high with a victory in the week’s final race. With fresh faces in key afterguard roles, the result showed strong promise despite some early teething issues.
“It was a really good day. The week was challenging, really hard for the Race Committee, hard for all the teams, but it was good for us finishing strong and winning that last race,” said tactician Terry Hutchinson. “I am very happy with that for sure. But there is heaps of room for improvement, that’s the best part of it. We have a lot of communications things onboard to improve — there is a lot of work for us to get better out there.”
As the curtain comes down on the opening event of the 2025 season, Langley and Gladiator have fired a strong early warning shot.
The next 52 Super Series event is scheduled for June 2-7 in Baiona, Spain.
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