Sardinia sets the stage for a finale packed with unresolved storylines, and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's docks tell the tale before a single race is sailed. Thirteen TP52s from ten nations have gathered for the Porto Cervo regatta, and across the fleet there is unfinished business of every kind, from a championship already won to individual battles that could still go either way.
Doug DeVos' American Magic Quantum Racing arrive as the dominant force of 2025. Their tally of 131 points from four regattas gives them a commanding lead that puts the overall title beyond any realistic challenge. A second consecutive Super Series crown is effectively theirs already, but the programme is not done yet. DeVos himself returns to the helm in Porto Cervo for the first time since Saint Tropez in May, and the team will be chasing a fourth consecutive regatta victory as a fitting conclusion to what has been a near-flawless campaign.
Behind them, Takashi Okura's Sled occupy second place on 172 points. The gap to American Magic is too large to close, and their overall runner-up position looks secure. What they do have, though, is an appetite for Porto Cervo glory on its own terms. Back in 2019, Sled famously strung together five consecutive race wins at this venue, and that history gives them every reason to race hard through to the final gun.
The genuinely unresolved contest sits further down the standings, where just 2.5 points separate Alkedo Vitamina on 197 and Jean-Luc Petithuguenin's French entry Paprec on 199.5. Andrea Lacorte's Italian crew will be drawing on home-crowd energy and hoping the Sardinian breeze stays light to moderate, where consistency can carry them clear. Paprec want the opposite. Stronger Mistral conditions would play directly to their big-breeze capabilities, and if the wind builds, the balance of that third-place battle could shift decisively in France's favour. Two and a half points is nothing over a full regatta, and every individual race will matter.
Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation sit fifth on 207 points and face the steepest mathematical task of any team with an outside chance at the podium. They would need to win the regatta outright while both Alkedo and Paprec endure difficult series. Strong form in Puerto Portals makes them credible enough that the possibility cannot be dismissed entirely, even if it remains a long shot.
Among the most compelling wildcards is the return of Hasso and Tina Plattner's South African-flagged Phoenix, which brings aboard an Australian afterguard drawn straight from SailGP competition. Tom Slingsby, Kyle Langford, and Will Ryan join the boat, each arriving with different credentials: Slingsby as the comeback figurehead of the BONDS Flying Roos, Langford with a foiling-honed technical eye, and Ryan with the precision of an Olympic campaign. How that combination of skills translates to TP52 racing against seasoned Super Series regulars is the great unknown. Their true effect on the scoreboard is speculation until the racing begins.
At the other end of the fleet, Tony Langley's Gladiator will be keen to improve on a poor Mallorca showing, while other mid-fleet entries are simply targeting performances that reflect their genuine potential as the season closes out.
The most uplifting thread running through the Porto Cervo entry list is the trajectory of Hong Kong's Alpha+. Helmed by New Zealander Nick Egnot-Johnson and backed by Shawn and Tina Kang, the team celebrated its first ever Super Series podium in Puerto Portals. That result announced Alpha+ as a crew built on youth, talent, and steady upward progress, and they arrive in Sardinia full of confidence. Egnot-Johnson's journey from youth match racing to the grand prix TP52 circuit reflects New Zealand's growing presence in the class, and a second consecutive podium here would confirm the team as genuine long-term contenders.
Sardinia in September answers to no one's forecast. The opening day is expected to bring warmth, a chance of rain, a moderate breeze, and less than half a metre of swell, but the Mistral can change everything. The fleet may find itself grinding through drifting airs or bracing against a full-blooded blow, and either scenario reshapes the competitive picture entirely.
From American Magic Quantum Racing's commanding title position to the knife-edge contest between Alkedo Vitamina and Paprec, from Alpha+'s breakthrough momentum to the unknown influence of Phoenix and its SailGP trio, Porto Cervo offers a storyline at every level of the fleet. By any measure, it shapes up as one of the most layered season finales the Super Series has produced in years.
